'Time To Set The Burden Of You Being Down': Ravichandran Ashwin's Wife Prithi Narayanan Posts Heartfelt Note - WATCH

In her post on Instagram, Prithi Narayanan, wife of Ravichandran Ashwin recalled spinners' cricketing journey over the years. Prithi also revealed how she felt when the 38-year-old announced his retirement.

Ravichandran Ashwin's wife Prithi Narayanan has penned a heartfelt tribute for the India cricketer, who announced his retirement from international cricket, earlier this week. Ashwin announced his decision to retire just moments after the completion of the drawn third Test between Australia and India in Brisbane on Wednesday. 

In her post on Instagram, Prithi recalled Ashwin's cricketing journey over the years. Ashwin's wife also revealed how she felt when the 38-year-old announced his retirement.

"It has been a blurry two days for me. I have been thinking about what I can say. Do I put this down as a tribute to my all time favorite cricketer ? Maybe I’ll just take the partner angle? Or maybe a love letter from a fan girl? I guess this is a little bit of all of it," Prithi wrote on Instagram along with a heart-warming video. 

"When I saw Ashwin's PC, I thought of small and big moments. Many, many memories over the last 13-14 years. The big wins, the MOS awards, the quiet silence in our room after an intense game, the sound of the shower running for much longer than usual on some evenings post-play, the scratch of pencil over paper as he scribbled thoughts down, the constant streaming of footage videos when he is making a game plan, the calm of meditative breathing before leaving for each game, certain songs playing on repeat while he unwinds," she added.

Ashwin, who finished his international cricket career with 765 wickets, was part of many famous wins of India in different formats of the game. He was part of India's 2011 World Cup-winning and 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams as well.  

"The times we wept in joy - after the CT final, after the MCG win, after the Sydney draw, The Gabba win, after making a comeback in T20s…the times we sat in silence and the times when we had our hearts broken," wrote Prithi. 

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Ashwin's wife also said that it was an "absolute pleasure" to watch him play and win many accolades for the country. 

"Dear Ashwin, from not knowing how to put a kit bag together to following you to stadiums all over the world, rooting for you, watching you and learning from you, it has been an absolute pleasure. The world you introduced me to gave me the privilege to watch and enjoy a sport that I love from close quarters. It also showed me how much passion, hardwork and discipline is needed to keep your head above water. And sometimes even that is not enough," wrote Prithi. 

"I remember us talking about why you, R Ashwin, had to do all of this and a lot more to even stay relevant in the scheme of things. How awards, the best of stats, the POMs, the accolades, the records didn't matter if you didn't sharpen your skill sets constantly and did not put in the work. Sometimes, nothing is enough.

As you end your wonderful international run, I only want to tell you that it's all good. It is all going to be good. It is time to set the burden of being you down. Live life on your terms, make space for those extra calories, make time for your family, make time to do absolutely nothing, share memes all day, create a new bowling variation, bug our kids out of their minds. Just do it all," she added.