India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has credited all of his achievements to his ‘always aspiring to be perfect’ attitude and said that he has always looked at the areas of improvement to settle at nothing but ‘excellence’ on the cricket field.
Saying that the endeavour of improvements holds the key in his career, Ashwin said that the day he would not get the same energy to learn something new and try different things, he would walk away from the game.
"The beauty about Test cricket is you are always aspiring to be perfect but you can settle for excellence, so that's pretty much I think I do. I think whatever I have achieved so far in my career is because of that attitude, did not settle for anything, constantly looking to improve. I maintained that if I don't like doing different things and if I lose the patience to do something new or get satisfied then I might not play the sport anymore," ," Ashwin said in an ICC video released during the ongoing World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand in Southampton.
However, he said that he never looks at himself with excess admiration and relishes the ‘wonderful’ opportunity of playing the sport which gves him a lot of happiness and good space.
"I don't really read or dwell on my performances to be very honest. To be brutally honest I just hate the fact that I am who I am because of what I do. In India you get a lot of adulation but I am just another normal person who finds peace and happiness playing the sport," he said.
"It is just absolutely wonderful that I can ply my trade and feed my family and I get paid so well. This is a sport that gives meaning to me to live. I am too excited about it. I don't time for people rating me or not rating me, it's just another person's opinion and that's just brutally how I live my life."
R Ashwin was included in the playing XI alongside Ravindra Jadeja although there were bowling conditions favourable for seamers in Southampton. He used his bat to steer India past the 200-run mark but could not extend his contributions with the bat beyond 22 on the third day of the final against New Zealand.