File image of Ravichandran Ashwin© X (Twitter)
Ravichandran Ashwin is gearing up for a big 10-Test season and the Bangladesh series next month will be his first under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, someone with whom he has also played a lot. Ashwin also admires him as one of the "heroes" of Indian cricket. "Gautam is someone I still share a very, very good relationship with. Because of the fact that he is a very straightforward and an honest guy. I think Gautam is also one of those guys that we should always be backing. He's a hero of Indian cricket," he said of the new coach, who took charge in the recent tour of Sri Lanka.
Ashwin's first state team coach WV Raman, one of the respected names in Indian cricket has been a guiding force for him. Raman, incidentally, was Gambhir's only rival for the India head coach role.
Ashwin spoke about the importance of not being over-reliant on others, and stated that it was Raman who guided him to becoming self-sufficient. To Ashwin, Raman had been the catalyst, who helped him focus his intuitive mind.
"People can give you a helping hand. But they cannot guide you through in your career, you will have to be open to fresh ideas.
"For me, WV allowed me the freedom to express, and, you know, try new things. He also taught me how and on what path I need to travel, but he never said, 'This is the path you need to travel upon'.
"So in a way, in my early days, guidance from WV ensured that I was never really over-reliant on anybody." Ashwin said getting a second opinion is never a bad idea but cricket primarily is a self-taught sport.
"If you don't have awareness of your own game and if you can't teach yourself, I think you are always going to be dependent on someone which I think is a very dangerous part.
"I am not saying people with coaches or people who are dependent don't do well in life but there is a chance of selling yourself short," he asserted.