Hours after setting the Internet on fire with a series of cryptic tweets, Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday asked media houses to stop politicising his comments.
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Ashwin, who became the second-fastest bowler to take 400 Test wickets, took to Twitter to talk about things like "products", "ideas", "marketing" and "choice".
"Products are sold using various marketing strategies and that’s an accepted practice! We now live in an era where ideas are also being sold to us and it’s a classic example of “outbound marketing”, however I would like to add that buying ideas being sold to us is like telling us...
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“you can’t think on your own” and here we will teach you how to think and also help you think the way we want you to think. After having played the game at this level for a decade, I can safely say that “As long as we are going to buy it, they will shove it down our throat”.
Finally. We can always have and stand by our opinions even if it’s against the majority as long as we know that it is our own and not the one thats been sold to us!
“The choice is always ours”
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But without a clear context, his thread was left open to interpretations. And as many have shared, one news organisation claimed that Ashwin's tweets are related to the farmers' protest and are in obvious "reference to copy-paste tweets by Indian celebrities".
Then came Ashwin's clarification. The 34-year-old wrote: "This is exactly what I said in my series of tweets!! I don’t want any of you all to try and give meaning to or politicise my tweets. My profession is cricket and that’s what I have spoken about, please don’t add flavour to skew minds."
Meanwhile, the off-spinner claimed that he is actually an accidental cricketer.
"I accidentally became a cricketer. I am actually a cricket lover who went on to become a cricketer. I am living my dream here, I never imagined that I will wear the Indian jersey one day and I will play," Ashwin told bcci.tv in an interview but did not elaborate on the remark.
Ashwin reached the milestone of 400 Test wickets in the day-night third Test against England in Ahmedabad, which ended on Thursday with India winning by 10 wickets inside two days. Ashwin picked up seven in the match to take his overall tally to 401.
