At the Rajkot Test, R Ashwin’s wife Prithi opens out about a family emergency and thanks Pujara, Rohit, and David for their assistance

When Indian spin superstar Ravichandran Ashwin quit the third test midway because of a family medical issue, everyone was shocked and concerned about him. However, the image needed to be made clearer as to what had really occurred. The BCCI at the time only disclosed that Ashwin had to return by plane because of a “family emergency” and asked the public and media to respect the cricket player’s right to privacy.

Going back in time, Prithi, Ashwin’s wife, described the horrifying moment Ashwin’s mother passed away.

“During Rajkot, the kids had just returned from school when, five minutes later, he (R Ashwin) picked up his 500th Test Wicket,” Prithi wrote in an Indian Express piece. And before long, we were all on the phone responding to all of the congratulations.”

Prithi said that she heard a scream out of the blue and saw Ashwin’s mother, Aunty, fall to the ground. She also mentioned how quickly she was taken to the hospital and checked in. Prithi said that in order to find out how Ashwin might go back home as soon as possible, she called Cheteshwar Pujara rather than Ashwin.

“At that point, we had decided not to tell Ashwin because there wasn’t good flight connectivity between Chennai and Rajkot,” Prithi said in her article.

“I thus called Cheteshwar Pujara, and his family was very helpful. After we managed to escape, I gave Ashwin a call since the doctor had advised that having her son around would be beneficial after the scans. He sounded so devastated over the phone and hung up. He waited a further twenty to twenty-five minutes to absorb what I had told him and to return my call. He arrived late at night, and she said, “And thanks to Rohit (Sharma), Rahul bhai (Dravid), and the rest of the team as well as the BCCI, who followed up all the way till he reached here.”

The cricket player wanted to see his mother and play the match the next day, so the BCCI arranged for a special charter plane for him. The cricket player also expressed gratitude to BCCI secretary Jay Shah for his assistance at a very trying moment.