Ashwin is arguably the greatest match-winner for India in Test cricket. The fastest man to 300 Test wickets, he was a part of the team that won the 2011 World Cup in the ODI format. In T20 cricket, he has won two IPL titles and a Champions League T20. He is a feisty offspinner and more than a handy batter. But that’s only half the tale.

This nuanced portrait delves deep to paint a candid picture of a cricketer’s life before cricket—his struggles with health issues as a child, a middle-class family’s unwavering fight and determination to give him the resources he needed for a professional career in the sport, and the little joys of growing up in a cricket-mad gully.

How does a champion sportsman view the world? What drives him on and off the field? One of the more articulate and thoughtful cricketers, in this book, R. Ashwin tells his story with Sidharth Monga.