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Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest active players currently. With 490 wickets in 95 Test matches, the second-highest wicket-taker among active spinners after Nathan Lyon (509 wickets). However, with India facing England in a five-match series starting later this month, Ashwin has a good chance to surpass Lyon. He needs only 10 more wickets to be the second Indian after the great Anil Kumble to take 500 or more Test wickets. He is currently enjoying a break before the Test series against England.
He recently encountered a hypothetical survey where players from different eras were pitted against each other. The question was simple: “Who would win these contests?” The player match-ups included Virat Kohli vs Waqar Younis, Babar Azam vs Anil Kumble, Rohit Sharma vs Wasim Akram, Sachin Tendulkar vs Shaheen Afridi. It also had a match-up between Ravichandran Ashwin and Javed Miandad.
Ashwin conceded that he would not be able to win the ‘battle’. He wrote on his Instagram story: “Miandad will win the battle against me. What a fabulous player he was. I just wish there was a Time Machine”.
Recently, Ravichandran Ashwin gave a fiery response to Michael Vaughan regarding a comment on Indian cricket team. India’s poor show in the Test series opener prompted the former England captain to brand the team one of the most ‘underachieving’ in world cricket. Vaughan’s statement even made some former Indian cricketers echoed his comments but veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin isn’t in agreement.
Ashwin, in a video on his YouTube channel, issued a fiery response, saying such a comment ‘made him laugh’ considering how well India have done in world cricket, especially in the Test format.
“Michael Vaughan made a statement after the first Test that India is an underachieving team. Yes, we haven’t won ICC trophies for years. We call ourselves the powerhouses of the game. But the Test team has been one of the best traveling teams in the vicinity. We have seen many great results,” Ashwin said in response.
“After he said that, so many experts from our own country started questioning if India is an underachieving team. Frankly, it made me laugh. Picture yourself. Just reverse the situation. SA batted first in this Test after winning the toss. If SA had batted first after winning the toss in Centurion, wasn’t there a chance they could have gotten all out by 65? Even India was staring at the barrel at 20/3, thanks to Virat and Shreyas’ partnership from there to save us.”
“So, both cricket and Test cricket are differentiated by fine margins. In a country like India, where we talk cricket in every nook and cranny and consider the sport a religion, I feel we criticize and nitpick too much and get into unnecessary details. I think these are blinding us,” said Ashwin.
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