'The harder I tried, the farther it felt': when Ashwin almost gave up cricket

Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he almost gave up and thought of retiring from cricket in 2018.

During a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Ashwin said that between 2018 and 2020, he contemplated giving up the sport at various points. 'I thought, I have put in a lot of effort, but it is not coming through. The harder I tried, the farther it felt,' added the off-spinner. Ashwin also revealed that he used to be gasping for breath after bowling just 6 balls. There would be pain all over the place and he needed to make adjustments.

Ashwin added that another reason why he was thinking of retiring was that people were not sensitive enough to his injuries. 'I felt like a lot of people were backed, why not me? I felt I was not being able to be excellent and felt I needed a shoulder to lean on, he further stated.

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