Ashwin Admits He Won’t Be Able To Take On This Pakistan Star
Ravichandran Ashwin is among the best players who’s playing right now. The second-highest wicket-taker among current spinners, after Nathan Lyon (509 wickets), with 490 wickets in 95 Test matches. However, Ashwin has a strong chance to beat Lyon when India plays England in a five-match series that begins later this month. To become the second Indian player to collect 500 or more Test wickets, behind the legendary Anil Kumble, he just has to take ten more wickets. Before the England Test series, he is now taking a rest.
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”.
Ravichandran Ashwin recently responded angrily to Michael Vaughan’s remark on the Indian cricket squad. The former captain of England branded India as one of the most ‘underachieving’ teams in international cricket following their lacklustre performance in the first Test series. Even several former Indian cricket players have mirrored Vaughan’s remarks, but veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin disagrees.
Taking exception at the statement, Ashwin responded sharply in a video posted to his YouTube page, claiming it ‘made him laugh’ given how well India has performed in international cricket, particularly 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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