Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently announced his retirement on December 18, soon after the third Test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Brisbane. The 38-year-old enjoyed an illustrious 14-year career, retiring as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 765 scalps across all formats.

Now, after his retirement, Ashwin revealed about an incident that occurred during the 2018 summer tour of England where he received a ‘tap’ from the then coach Ravi Shastri.

On that tour, Ashwin had appeared on a Sky Sports show called Masterclass with former Test cricketer Ian Ward. Notably, these masterclasses had been running for years in which Ward had built a reputation for convincing legends such as Shane Warne, Muthiah Muralidaran, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Curtly Ambrose to give viewers a look at its internal functioning.

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Ravichandran Ashwin reveals why he faced backlash from Ravi Shastri

Ward has a knack for guiding players to discuss their skills in a way that balances technical depth with simplicity, making him appealing to the average television audience. Later, Ashwin appeared on the show and revealed the secrets of his craft, including his signature carrom ball.

In a recent podcast with Sky Sports, host Nasser Hussain asked Ashwin about the same and what had happened after that interview.

Ashwin revealed, “I took a real beating from Ravi Shastri for doing that masterclass. I’m sure you’ve heard of that from him. I think he had his point, but somehow inside of me I never felt insecure about it. I think there are two things at play, right? One is to be able to deliver what you have and the other is to be able to respond to what you throw on the other side and I always believed and had the courage to say this is what I have to give.”

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