Book Review: R Ashwin's I Have The Streets
A man known for his mastery in spin bowling pairs up with Cricinfo's Sid Monga to churn out a masterful autobiography
R Ashwin isn’t just India’s leading wicket-taker in Tests. As we know from his YT channel and Twitter, he is also a very curious character - not only is he a cricket nerd, but Ashwin is also interested in Chess and often tweets about Tamil movies. His autobiography, I Have The Streets (IHTS), is not much different. There’s never a dull moment. Just like he does when bowling in Indian whites, Ashwin keeps you engaged each minute.
Ashwin’s incredible memory and in-depth cricket analysis
Initially, Ashwin paints a beautiful picture of his growing years, his family and their values, and the experience of growing up in Chennai in the 90s. Having grown up in the same period, it wasn’t hard to be a child again and play along his tales of gully cricket, juggling school while following cricket and watching his heroes live in a stadium.
Unlike Sachin Tendulkar’s book, IHTS manages to be detail-oriented without becoming boring to follow. Using anecdotes, Ashwin craftily paints a picture of how he was groomed as a young cricketer. Despite some of these incidents being over 15 years old, the offspinner shares the field setup that he discussed with one of his early coaches like it was yesterday.
One of the reasons I enjoy watching test cricket on Sky Sports is that discussions during lunch or tea breaks often jump into technical aspects of the game. From wrist positions to revs on the ball, Ashwin jumps into technical aspects of spin bowling in the book, just like those Sky Sports segments.
He also loves experimenting as a young cricketer. On one occasion, he realizes that holding the ball deep in his palm allows him to keep things unpredictable while still making it feel like an off-break to the batter. Many times while reading such passages, I would take a pause, re-read, and imagine him trying something in his bowling action.
The constant hunger for Cricket
It’s no secret that top athletes and sports stars have an obsessive drive to get better at their sport. Although there are exceptions (like MS Dhoni), this is largely true for the vast majority of recent cricketers. But R Ashwin takes this to the next level. His appetite for cricket was so high, that even after he started playing for CSK, he continued to street cricket with a tennis ball.
He’s intrigued by competition, he even accepts that he found a close street game better than bowling to international stars in the nets (since he got no feedback from them). He’s always thinking about new tricks and skills. Once he reaches out to a street cricketer he plays against about the carrom ball.
In another instance, he reaches out to a Sri Lankan cricketer during a U-19 tour after seeing him bowl an unusual ball. Even when he is on the fringe of the Indian team, he doesn’t hesitate to experiment. In 2008, while preparing for the Challenger Trophy, Ashwin turns up with a different action that surprises his captain Yuvraj Singh.
Key Influences - WV Raman, Matthew Hayden, and Gautam Gambhir
Former India cricket WV Raman plays a crucial role in Ashwin’s growth as an off-spinner. He instills the principles of “being there and thereabouts all day”, session after session to help control the game and therefore, force the batter to make errors. Specifically, Raman pushes Ashwin to find a length consistently so that he can’t be driven and cut, and asks him to find ways to induce both edges. Whether it’s dismissing Hashim Amla off a leg-cutter in a T20 World Cup or bowling with discipline all day in test cricket - it’s not hard to see that those basics have been the foundation for his incredible career.
During his early years at CSK, Ashwin enjoys interacting with Matthew Hayden. In his words, Hayden is like no other cricketer. In team meetings, Hayden lays out specific plans for each bowler and goes about executing those without a care in the world. He also enjoys his battles in the nets with Hayden, constantly looking for clues to decipher what shot the southpaw is about to play. Famously, he’s done similar to the homework he did against Marnus Labuschange in 2021.
Among Indian captains, he is surprised by MS Dhoni’s methods as he doesn’t attend bowler meetings, doesn’t generally react, and prefers listening to people until the last minutes before the game starts. In his early days, he appreciates the support of stand-in Indian skipper Gautam Gambhir. After winning an ODI series 5-1 in the absence of MS Dhoni, he goes to Ashwin and tells him he deserves to be Player of the Series. Gambhir is appreciative of Ashwin’s ability to bowl in any phase of the innings and considers him a valuable resource for any captain.
Honest to a fault
After interacting with Rahul Dravid, people often talk about his humility and lack of superstardom. R Ashwin doesn’t have that type of reputation. Most fans who have had a chance to interact with him, don’t consider him the nicest guy. And you can see some of this in the anecdotes mentioned in the book as well.
Talking about India’s U-17 camp in Bangalore, Ashwin doesn’t hesitate in bringing up that he feels out of space due to his lack of proficiency in Hindi. Piyush Chawla is the only one who can speak English and people make fun of him for trying to study. After being dropped for CSK, he inquires if there are any tickets with better seats and is told he is not a big enough player to make such demands.
Even when he’s told ‘rubbing shoulders’ with legends like Murali, Matthew Hayden, and Mike Hussey will be great for him even if he’s not playing, Ashwin thinks he doesn’t care to ‘rub shoulders’, he wants to go out and beat them in the field. Ashwin is honest to a fault and understandably, that rubs some people the wrong way.
Despite all the struggles, he has immense belief right from the beginning. In his 1st Ranji season, Ashwin asks the captain to make him nightwatchman after scoring 0 in the previous innings. It’s hard to say whether R Ashwin is a good man without knowing him personally, but we see enough of this belief and technical prowess to understand why he is one of India’s greatest Test cricketers.
The book finishes with the World Cup win and surely, there will be another edition covering his career from that point till possibly his retirement. Although he didn’t play all matches of that World Cup, and he was a younger/newer member of the squad, perhaps one area where the book leaves readers asking for more is that victorious campaign.
For that, and his illustrious test career in a glorious era for Indian cricket, I look forward to reading the next edition.