BENGALURU: 1st street, Ramakrishnapuram. It’s a street that’s just about 160m long, connecting Arya Gowda Road and Ramakrishnapuram Ln in West Mambalam locality of Chennai.

From the outset, it might seem like a random street. But in the context of sporting history of not just Chennai, but the country, 1st street, Ramakrishnapuram holds paramount significance. After all, this is the street where R Ashwin, India’s premier off-spinner, hails from. The street is not just an origin story of Ashwin — who has played 100 Tests for India, is the first from Tamil Nadu to do so and take 516 Test wickets so far. It is so much more. To understand the significance it holds to Ashwin and what it means to him, all one has to do is read just two paragraphs — the first one of the prologue and the last one in the book — of his newly published biography: I have the streets — a kutti cricket story.

Co-authored with Sidharth Monga, Ashwin’s biography is a deep dive into his two decade-long journey from 1st street, Ramakrishnapuram to conquering the world through the eyes of the 37-year-old. For any top athlete, especially an elite Indian cricketer, whose life is constantly under the public eye, their life on and off the field is often well documented with different perspectives for the fans and readers to perceive. Ashwin, in ‘I have the streets’, gives his perspective of things and how he felt and reacted to every small thing that happened to him, his fight with the perception that was constantly created about him without getting into who’s right or wrong in a particular situation. He has done so as a conscious choice, and with his typical comical sense and pop culture references.