Indian cricket group spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will play his a hundredth Test match as India tackle England within the ultimate sport of the five-match sequence in Dharamsala on Thursday. Ashwin, who is simply the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to take 500 Test wickets, has been out and in of the group in recent times. India have lacked batting depth in Test cricket and through matches towards SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) nations, Ravindra Jadeja was favoured over the veteran spinner. In a dialog with Kumble on Jio Cinema, Ashwin opened up about his struggles earlier in his profession and the way he made peace with the doubts surrounding his choice.

“I don’t want to sound controversial. I can compare this to a lot of other things that are happening in the world right now. But I genuinely do feel that bowlers play second-fiddle to the batters. That’s because probably, batters just get that one chance. I mean you are knocked out; you are out,” he said.

“This used to play on my mind constantly: Why is it that I get one game to fail and why is it that somebody else gets more games to fail? Eventually I have made peace with the fact that the team needs to win. Even when I am not playing and the team wins after five days, I am the most delighted person in the dressing room. When I was young, all I wanted to do was wear the India jersey for one day.”

“Just because of who I am today, I cannot put my selfish interest ahead of the team. Yes, there have been disappointing days, but I have learnt how to deal with it, and I am extremely happy that I played alongside some of the great cricketers that India has ever produced,” he added.