How ‘outstanding leader’ Rohit Sharma helped Ashwin in personal adversity

In an emotional video, Ashwin recalled the events that led to his departure and return during the third Test match against England when his mother was ill.

Ravichandran Ashwin has hailed India’s cricket captain Rohit Sharma as a man with a “heart of gold” for his help and leadership during India’s third Test match against England last month, which Ashwin left on the second day when his mother fell ill.

Three days after helping his team wrap up a 4-1 series win over Ben Stokes’s England, the off-spinner opened up on the personal adversity that led to his departure from the team in the middle of the match, his return on the fourth day and the emotional toll it took on him as a top-level athlete.

“Rohit is a special person, an outstanding leader with a golden heart,” Ashwin said in an emotional video posted on his YouTube channel.

“I would give my life for him on the field, that’s the kind of captain he is.”

The 37-year-old recollected the events from February 16, the day he took his 500th wicket in Test cricket but also the day his mother collapsed and lost consciousness back home in Chennai, India.

“Rohit, me and some other players were having a discussion after the match when I realised my parents and wife had not called me to congratulate [on reaching the 500 wicket milestone],” Ashwin recalled in the video titled “the emotional roller coaster.”

“When I called my wife at 7pm her voice was shaking. She asked me to move away from the crowd and told me my mother had collapsed after a headache.”

Ashwin said he “blanked out” as soon as he heard the news and wasn’t able to think clearly.

“I was crying but I didn’t want anyone to see me cry. I just sat alone in my room not knowing what to do.”

The 100-Test veteran was in a