“Don’t think about anything, leave immediately.” These were the words of the India captain Rohit Sharma to R Ashwin when they learned about the news of the off-spinner’s mother collapsing after a headache at their home in Chennai while Ashwin was playing in the Rajkot Test against England.
R Ashwin missed day 3 of the Rajkot Test – the third Test of the series – as he flew back home to tend to his mother who had taken ill.
The champion off-spinner revealed how India skipper Rohit Sharma gave him the emotional and tangible support he needed at that moment. While plenty of stuff ran through Ashwin’s mind – about his mother and the series being poised at that stage – Rohit was the first one to ask him to leave for his home and be with his mother.
Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara got Ashwin a charter plane from Rajkot to take him to Chennai. The Indian skipper also asked physio Kamlesh to fly and be with Ashwin and support him in whatever way possible.
Rohit Sharma asked Kamlesh (physio) to leave with me: R Ashwin
Recently, R Ashwin narrated the entire incident of how he heard the news from his wife, and how captain Rohit Sharma supported him.
Ashwin said: “I called my wife around 7 PM, my wife’s voice didn’t sound too good, and she asked me to come separately to speak. She told me my mother had collapsed after a splitting headache.
“I went blank. I didn’t know how to react. I went to my room and cried along for some time. I didn’t pick up the phone and I suppose she called my team physio to check on me. Rohit and Rahu Dravid were probably informed and both of them came to the room. I didn’t know what to do. ‘I’m part of the eleven and the game is in balance. The team will become 10 if I leave, they (England) had a slight upper hand, they had given a good fight…,’ I had thousands of thoughts running through my mind. At the same time I was thinking of when I last spoke to my mother. I had almost made up my mind to leave.
“After all that, I started searching for flights but I couldn’t find one. Rohit told me ‘don’t think about anything, leave immediately, I’ll try to arrange a charter flight for you’. A big thank you to Cheteshwar Pujara. He somehow got a flight from Ahmedabad, got it chartered, I don’t know how those two hours went on the flight. And then what Rohit did…he asked Kamlesh (physio) to leave with me. With the team having only two physios, I asked Kamlesh to stay back. When I went down, the security and Kamlesh were waiting to take me. Rohit calls Kamlesh and tells him ‘stay with Ashwin, comfort him, take care of him’.
Ashwin hailed Rohit Sharma for his “good heart”.
“It was 9:30 PM. I was gobsmacked. Even if I was the captain and if something like this happened to the player, I would have definitely asked the player to go. But enquiring about him, asking someone to go with him…unbelievable. I’m seeing an outstanding leader in Rohit. I can’t express this, I’ve played with a lot of captains over the years, but there is something about Rohit. His good heart is the reason he has been able to win five IPL titles, equal to Dhoni. God won’t give things like these easily, I just hope god gives him something big. Thinking about another person, understanding the troubles and taking care of that…it’s a rarity to find a person like this in a selfish world.
“My respect for him (grew more)…I already have a lot of respect for him. If he believes in a player then he backs that player. It’s not an easy thing. Even Dhoni does that. But he (Rohit) has taken 10 steps more. When it gets so personal like this, a player can even give his life on the field.”
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