Chennai: Ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin asserted that there is Rohit Sharma's leadership, but what make him different is the Indian skipper's humane qualities and the golden heart, something which he witnesses during the Rajkot Test when his mother Chitra was hospitalized and wasn't in good state of mind.
R Ashwin had withdrawn from the middle of the third Test and flew back to his home town Chennai hours after his 500th Test wicket. It was Rohit Sharma, the leader stands out for his empathy and golden heart, asked him to be with his mother and helped him in his difficult time.
Two days after the fifth and final Test, Ashwin recollected those horrifying moments of his life on his YouTube channel. An emotional Ashwin vividly recalled the incidents on that fateful evening in Rajkot and said, "I was crying in my room and as I wasn't picking calls and Rohit and Rahul (Dravid) bhai came to check on me and all I told them was I couldn't think clearly. I am a part of the XI and the game hangs in a balance and if I leave the squad, they will be left with 10 people against a full-strength squad. At the other end, I was thinking about the last time I spoke to my mother."
"I just wanted to leave and see her and I asked the doctor how she was and if she was conscious. The doctor apparently told me she was not in a position to be seen and I was tearing up and searching for a flight and I couldn't get one," he spoke about his helplessness.
Ashwin later realised that what Rohit had done was unthinkable.
"Rajkot airport closes at 6 pm and there are no flights after that and I didn't know what to do. Rohit literally asked me to stop thinking, and leave to be there with my family, and he was trying to arrange a charter flight for me," Ashwin said.
He also thanked India's one of the most dependable batter Cheteshwar Pujara, who came down from Ahmedabad to Rajkot and flew to Chennai with him. Ashwin also mentioned that Rohit had Kamlesh Jain, team physio, to leave the Test match and fly with him to Chennai and ensure that he wasn't left alone with negative thoughts.
"Rohit asked Kamlesh, who is a good friend of mine to travel with me to Chennai and be with me. He was one of the two physios and I convinced him to stay there but when I went down the security check, Kamlesh was already waiting there," Ashwin said. "It was Rohit who called Kamlesh and asked to come and be with me and check on me during this tough time. It was 9:30 pm and I was just gobsmacked, I couldn't even think about it and two people (Kamlesh and Pujara), they were the ones I could talk to here. What if I had no one to talk to at that moment," Ashwin said.
Ashwin said that had he been skipper, he would have done the same but wondered if he would have taken the pains to arrange a charter flight or ask a team support staff to check on a player? He doesn't think so.
"I just thought even if I were the captain, I would tell my player to go back home and there are no second thoughts about it, but will I call up people to check on him? I don't know. Unbelievable, and I saw an outstanding leader in Rohit that day," Ashwin, who become the 14th Indian to play 100 Test, said.
"I can't quite put my finger on it as I have played under several captains and leaders but it is his good that has made him what he is today, he's won five IPL titles and is on par with Dhoni, and it's not an easy thing that Dhoni has done. He should get something bigger than all that, which God will give him," the 37-year-old said.
Ashwin literally choked when he said his respect for Rohit had grown following the gesture. "In a selfish society, where man thinks about himself, thinking for someone else's wellbeing is a rarity. My respect for him grew tremendously after that. I already respect him as a leader, he backs the player without a question till the last moment; not easy to do that."
His final statement was a testimony to what place Rohit holds in the hearts of his teammates. "He takes 10 steps for a player and a player can give his life for him," he said. (With PTI Inputs)
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