Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra said that the number of Player of the Series awards Ravichandran Ashwin has won could be an example of his greatness. However, Ashwin became the ninth bowler and fifth spinner to claim 500 Test wickets when he dismissed Zak Crawley on the second day of the third Test between India and England in Rajkot on Friday, February 16. England ended the day at 207/2 after India were bowled out for 445.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Ravichandran Ashwin – spinners are not known for their speed but second-fastest to reach that milestone. How do you try to judge or measure his greatness? A huge thing is how many Player of the Match or Player of the Series awards you won. In India, no one has got more than him and he has played 98 matches only. I think he is No. 2 in the entire world as well, but a legit repeated, serial match-winner, Man of the Series winner. His performances have been amazing.”

However, Ravichandran Ashwin has won the Player of the Series award on 10 times in Test cricket. He is only behind Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan, who picked up this 11 times and was also the fastest to 500 Test wickets. Aakash Chopra also added that Ravichandran Ashwin had to develop new deliveries once the Doosra was banned as well.

“Ravichandran Ashwin’s evolution as a bowler is very important because the Doosra was allowed when he started playing. Then when the Doosra wasn’t allowed, you needed to find things to remain relevant, you had to do something different and he did that. He developed the carrom ball. He developed that patience and tried to pick up wickets in different fashions. He succeeded in that. His numbers are amazing against both left-handed and right-handed batters. If he has dismissed 251 right-handers, he has dismissed 249 left-handers as well,” Aakash Chopra concluded.