New Delhi, A furious Mahendra Singh Dhoni decides to send erstwhile enfant terrible S Sreesanth back home in the middle of a match, his 'Mankading' debut as a teenager and W.V. Raman's efforts to make him a powerful character are some of the eminently readable stories in Ravichandran Ashwin's autobiography.
The 184-page book titled 'I Have The Streets- A Kutty Cricket Story' is co-authored by senior journalist Sidharth Monga and published by Penguin Random House. It covers Ashwin's journey from his formative years to India's epic World Cup victory in 2011.
There are no sob stories or excessive dramatization in the book, but plenty of funny anecdotes plus an occasional deep dive into an experimental mind, which always wants to try something out of the ordinary. Easily the most compelling read was how an angry Dhoni, in the midst of a limited overs game against South Africa in Port Elizabeth (now known as Gqeberha) in 2010, he had instructed Ashwin to tell team manager Ranjib Biswal to reserve S Sreesanth in the next match. The flight available back home.
Reason: Sreesanth repeatedly ignored the captain's calls to sit on the bench with other reserves for a massage in the locker room.
"I drink water. MS drinks. Two drinks later, I drink more. He drinks more. On the other hand, I have brought more water for MS than anyone else. When I go to take a break, MS asks, 'Where is Sree?' narrates Ashwin."It is possibly the most neutral way to ask a question. It is also the form of MS. You just can't understand why he asks. I don't know what to tell you because I don't know what it could be." lead to. MS insists on finding out.
"I tell him that Sree is upstairs in the locker room. He tells me to tell Sree that he has to come down and sit with the other reserves."
"Anyway, coming back from drinks break, I wonder how, while keeping wicket in an international match, MS even noticed that Sree was not sitting down. I come back and tell Mr. Vijay , who is in his glasses getting cold. with his feet on another chair, "Hey, Monk, MS asked Sree to come down." Monk says to me, 'Hey, go tell him.'
"......I enter the locker room and say, 'Sree, MS wants you to come down'. 'Why? Can't you carry water?', Sreesanth replies.
"I tell him I didn't say anything. He said he wants you to come down. He said the reserves should be together for the game. Sree says, 'Okay, go. I'll go back to my duties with the drink.'" Next time I have to go with a helmet. This time I can feel that MS is angry and I have never seen him lose his cool. 'Where is Sree? What is MS doing?' he asks sternly."
"I tell him he's getting a massage. MS doesn't say anything. At the next check-in, he calls me to give him the helmet back. Now he's calm. As he gives me the helmet, he says, 'Do something.' Go". "To Ranjib, sir. Tell him that Sree is not interested in being here. Ask him to book his ticket for tomorrow so that he can return to India."
"I'm stunned. I'm not sure what to say. I'm just looking at his face. MS says, 'What happened? You don't understand English now either?'
With some hilarity, Ashwin reveals how it worked like magic.
"Sree gets up and dresses quickly. Not only that, but she now takes over the drinking duties. The next time MS needs a drink, Sree makes sure to run away. Instead of taking the drink from her, MS gestures to me to go. "Did you tell Ranjib sir or not?" he asks me. "MS and Sree sorted it out later, but during that period I find myself stuck in a situation where ideally I would like to laugh, but I have too much. afraid to do it," wrote the second Indian bowler to take 500 wickets in Tests.
Ashwin, a fierce advocate of playing fair and within the rules of the game, also recalled how it was his father Ravichandran who asked him to throw out the non-striker for going back too far in a school game.
“At twelve o'clock, I am bowling during a tense climax for Rao's Cricket Clinic, our PSBB school coach Chandrasekhar Rao's team against DAV Gopalapuram at the RKM Cricket ground, when I see Appa make a gesture from behind the striker that the non-striker is stealing ground even before releasing the ball. "He wants me to do Mankad. I do. Nobody thinks it's strange and there are no protests. "Coach just doesn't talk to Appa for a week."
The reverence for former India opener W.V. Raman, one of the most respected voices in Indian cricket for his technical knowledge, is also respected in the book.
"Raman and I are made for each other. For the life of me, I can't keep repeating the same thing. And Raman, the coach, comes up with something every day to help me continue discovering spin bowling to the fullest," he wrote . explaining how Raman straightened his run from an angle to help correct his alignment.
The 184-page book titled 'I Have The Streets- A Kutty Cricket Story' is co-authored by senior journalist Sidharth Monga and published by Penguin Random House. It covers Ashwin's journey from his formative years to India's epic World Cup victory in 2011.
There are no sob stories or excessive dramatization in the book, but plenty of funny anecdotes plus an occasional deep dive into an experimental mind, which always wants to try something out of the ordinary. Easily the most compelling read was how an angry Dhoni, in the midst of a limited overs game against South Africa in Port Elizabeth (now known as Gqeberha) in 2010, he had instructed Ashwin to tell team manager Ranjib Biswal to reserve S Sreesanth in the next match. The flight available back home.
Reason: Sreesanth repeatedly ignored the captain's calls to sit on the bench with other reserves for a massage in the locker room.
"I drink water. MS drinks. Two drinks later, I drink more. He drinks more. On the other hand, I have brought more water for MS than anyone else. When I go to take a break, MS asks, 'Where is Sree?' narrates Ashwin."It is possibly the most neutral way to ask a question. It is also the form of MS. You just can't understand why he asks. I don't know what to tell you because I don't know what it could be." lead to. MS insists on finding out.
"I tell him that Sree is upstairs in the locker room. He tells me to tell Sree that he has to come down and sit with the other reserves."
"Anyway, coming back from drinks break, I wonder how, while keeping wicket in an international match, MS even noticed that Sree was not sitting down. I come back and tell Mr. Vijay , who is in his glasses getting cold. with his feet on another chair, "Hey, Monk, MS asked Sree to come down." Monk says to me, 'Hey, go tell him.'
"......I enter the locker room and say, 'Sree, MS wants you to come down'. 'Why? Can't you carry water?', Sreesanth replies.
"I tell him I didn't say anything. He said he wants you to come down. He said the reserves should be together for the game. Sree says, 'Okay, go. I'll go back to my duties with the drink.'" Next time I have to go with a helmet. This time I can feel that MS is angry and I have never seen him lose his cool. 'Where is Sree? What is MS doing?' he asks sternly."
"I tell him he's getting a massage. MS doesn't say anything. At the next check-in, he calls me to give him the helmet back. Now he's calm. As he gives me the helmet, he says, 'Do something.' Go". "To Ranjib, sir. Tell him that Sree is not interested in being here. Ask him to book his ticket for tomorrow so that he can return to India."
"I'm stunned. I'm not sure what to say. I'm just looking at his face. MS says, 'What happened? You don't understand English now either?'
With some hilarity, Ashwin reveals how it worked like magic.
"Sree gets up and dresses quickly. Not only that, but she now takes over the drinking duties. The next time MS needs a drink, Sree makes sure to run away. Instead of taking the drink from her, MS gestures to me to go. "Did you tell Ranjib sir or not?" he asks me. "MS and Sree sorted it out later, but during that period I find myself stuck in a situation where ideally I would like to laugh, but I have too much. afraid to do it," wrote the second Indian bowler to take 500 wickets in Tests.
Ashwin, a fierce advocate of playing fair and within the rules of the game, also recalled how it was his father Ravichandran who asked him to throw out the non-striker for going back too far in a school game.
“At twelve o'clock, I am bowling during a tense climax for Rao's Cricket Clinic, our PSBB school coach Chandrasekhar Rao's team against DAV Gopalapuram at the RKM Cricket ground, when I see Appa make a gesture from behind the striker that the non-striker is stealing ground even before releasing the ball. "He wants me to do Mankad. I do. Nobody thinks it's strange and there are no protests. "Coach just doesn't talk to Appa for a week."
The reverence for former India opener W.V. Raman, one of the most respected voices in Indian cricket for his technical knowledge, is also respected in the book.
"Raman and I are made for each other. For the life of me, I can't keep repeating the same thing. And Raman, the coach, comes up with something every day to help me continue discovering spin bowling to the fullest," he wrote . explaining how Raman straightened his run from an angle to help correct his alignment.
