Ravichandran Ashwin Height, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio
Other Name	R Ashwin
Nickname	Ash
Profession	Cricketer (Spin Bowler)
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 188 cm in meters- 1.88 m in feet inches- 6’ 2”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- 75 kg in pounds- 165 lbs
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Cricket
International Debut	ODI- 5 June 2010 against Sri Lanka at Harare Test- 6 November 2011 against West Indies at Delhi T20- 12 June 2010 against Zimbabwe at Harare
Last Match	ODI- 8 October 2023 against Australia at Chennai Test- 6 December 2024 against Australia at Adelaide T20- 10 November 2022 against England at Adelaide
International Retirement	On 18 December 2024 from all formats
Jersey Number	#99 (India) #99 (Domestic)
Domestic/State Team	Chennai Super Kings, Dindigul Dragons, Rising Pune Supergiants, Tamil Nadu, Worcestershire
Favourite Ball	Carrom ball
Records (main ones)	• Fastest Indian bowler to take 50 & 100 wickets in Test cricket. • Joint record (with Ian Botham and Jack Gregory) of fastest to the take 50 wickets and score 500 runs (11th Tests). • In 2016, he became the 2nd fastest bowler to take 200 Test wickets (37th match), after Australian spin bowler Clarrie Grimmett who achieved it in his 36th match. • In 2017, he became the fastest bowler to take 300 Test wickets (54th match), breaking Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee's record (56th match). • The 5th Indian bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket, after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Zaheer Khan (311). • The 3rd Indian to receive the ICC Cricketer of the Year award, after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. • On 8 February 2021, during the 4th day of the first cricket test match between India and England, at MA Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, Ashwin became the first spinner in over 100 years of Test cricket to dismiss a batsman off the very first ball of an innings. After Ajinkya Rahane caught England opener Rory Burns in the slips off the very first ball of the second innings, Ashwin became only the third spinner in the 134-year history of the game to earn that rare distinction. [1]The Hindu • Ravichandran Ashwin accomplished a remarkable feat in his distinguished Test career by taking the wickets of both father and son, when he dismissed Tagenarine Chanderpaul during the first Test against the West Indies on 12 July 2023. [2]The Hindu • He became the second Indian player to reach 500 Test wickets on 16 February 2024. • He became the 14th player to play 100 Test matches for India on 7 March 2024. • He became the first bowler to take five-wicket haul in his first and 100th Test on 7 March 2024. • He took 36th five-wikect haul in the 5th Test against England, making him the highest wicket-taker in the series. • He took 9 wickets in his 100th Test (9/128), breaking Muttiah Muralitharan's world record to register the best bowling figures (9/141).
Career Turning Point	His remarkable performance in the 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL 3), after which he was selected in the Indian squad that toured Zimbabwe in May–June 2010.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	17 September 1986 (Wednesday)
Age (as of 2024)	38 Years
Birthplace	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Zodiac sign	Virgo
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
School	Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Chennai St. Bede's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chennai
College	Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (SSN), Chennai
Educational Qualifications	B.Tech in Information Technology (IT)
Family	Father- Ravichandran (Worked in Southern Railways, Former club level cricketer) Mother- Chitra Brother- N/A Sister- N/A
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Brahmin
Address	A home in Postal colony, West Mambalam, Chennai-33
Hobbies	Reading, Watching movies, tennis, basket ball & football
Controversies	• In September 2016, during a Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) match, he lost his temperament while batting for Dindigul Dragons against Chepauk Super Gillies. When the batsman on the other end, Jagadeesan Narayan got dismissed, Ashwin and Narayan had a verbal spat and physical tussle with the bowler Kishore who pushed Narayan and passed provocating comments. • In December 2016, he was trolled on social media as he didn't mention the name of former captain MS Dhoni in his thank you speech after winning the ICC Best Test Cricketer Award. • On 19 February 2018, Ashwin promoted a shoe brand on Twitter, to which former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs tweeted, "Hopefully you will be able to run faster now Ashwin." Ashwin counted his tweet by saying, "Surely not as fast as you did mate, unfortunately I was not as blessed as you were. But I was blessed with a wonderfully ethical mind not to fix games that put food on my plate." Soon after, Ashwin deleted the tweets respecting his "family of fans."
Favourites
Cricketer(s)	Batsman- Sachin Tendulkar, Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards Bowler- Shane Warne All-rounder- Kapil Dev
Athlete(s)	Diego Maradona, Marat Safin, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Usain Bolt
Food	Chocolates
Actor	Santhanam
Film(s)	Bollywood- 3 Idiots Hollywood- Vertical Limit Tamil- Boss Engira Baskaran
Singer/Musician(s)	A. R. Rahman, Shoaib Bhushan
Girls, Family & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Narayanan Prithi
Wife/Spouse	Narayanan Prithi (m.2011 - present)
Marriage Date	13 November 2011
Children	Daughters- Akhira (born in 2015), Aadhya (born in 2016) Son- None
Money Factor
Salary (as of 2018)	Retainer Fee: ₹5 crore Test Fee: ₹15 lakh ODI Fee: ₹6 lakh T20 Fee: ₹3 lakh IPL 11: ₹7.6 crore

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ravichandran Ashwin

• Does Ravichandran Ashwin smoke?: No

• Ashwin was born into a Tamil-Brahmin family with a sports background as his father used to play cricket at the club level as a fast bowler.
  

  Ravichandran Ashwin’s childhood photo

• The subject that he used to hate the most was Maths.

• His wife, Prithi studied with him in during high schooling.

• He was a mischievous kid in his school days.

• He started playing cricket as an opening batsman, but at the age of 14, he injured his pelvic area that caused a ligament tear in the hip bones, after which he dropped the idea of becoming a batsman.

• Initially, he started as a fast bowler, but his mother felt that it’s not suiting him, so she suggested him to do spin bowling, which proved to be the right call.

• His aspirations to become a genuine spinner skyrocketed when he went to the National Cricket Academy, captained his team and took a 7-wicket haul.

• He took atleast one wicket in his debut match across all formats (T20I, ODI, Test).

• He was bestowed with the Arjuna Award by the Government of India Arjuna award — India’s highest sporting honour — in 2014.

• Cricket pundits often consider him as the perfect blend of former Indian spin bowler Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and Erapalli Prasanna.

• His all-time favourite skipper is Sourav Ganguly.
  

  Ravichandran Ashwin and Sourav Ganguly

• He was the guest contestant on Vijay TV’s ‘Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi’ (Tamil version of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’) that was hosted by Suriya.

• He is an avid dog lover and whenever he is in Chennai, he loves to take his dogs for a walk in the night.
  

  Ravichandran Ashwin, a dog lover

• He is a movie freak and loves watching every new release at Chennai’s Sathyam Cinema.

• His favorite superhero is ‘Batman.’

• On 25 March 2019, playing for Kings XI Punjab against Rajasthan Royals, Ashwin dismissed Jos Buttler in a run out popularly called ‘Mankading’. Though this is a legally permissible dismissal, it is considered against the spirit of the game, and for the same, Ashwin received heavy criticism from every corner.

• In June 2023, he revealed in an interview that he should have never become a bowler as he was a fine batter. He said,
  

  Having been such a fine batter, I should have never become a bowler. This is something, a perception I have constantly tried to fight but there are different yardsticks for bowlers and batters.” ^[3]Sportstar

• Ravichandran Ashwin replaced the injured Axar Patel in the Indian squad that was announced for the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup. ^[4]India Today

• On 7 March 2024, Ashwin received a special memento from Rahul Dravid on playing the 100th Test match in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
  

  Ravichandran Ashwin while receiving the special Test cap from Rahul Dravid

• In March 2024, in an interview, he revealed that he decided to quit cricket and pursue an MBA to become a marketing professional in 2017. He said that the decision was based on the pressure of playing professional cricket because of which he could not spend time with his family. According to Ashwin, he regained his mental health after taking external assistance. He said,
  

  I decided to quit cricket. I was asking myself what would I do? And I said whatever I do in life, I would try to achieve excellence and be as good as I can be in that profession. I would probably try to do an MBA and probably be in marketing. I gave myself so many options and then thought before I make any decision, I must get crystal-clear clarity. Probably get an outsider’s view into my life. And see who I am, where I am. That’s when I sought some external help and it changed my life for the better.”

• In the same interview, Ashwin revealed that he once kept himself closed in a room and wept after a fight with his father.