Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has claimed that he doesn’t consider Ravichandran Ashwin as an all-time great bowler as he hasn’t taken any wicket in the SENA countries as well. SENA is used to refer to the countries of South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia.
However, Ashwin has so far claimed 409 wickets in 78 Tests which also included 30 five-wicket hauls as well.
“When people start talking about him as being one of the all-time greats of the game then I have a few problems,” Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo. “One basic problem I have with Ashwin is that when you look at SENA countries, Ashwin doesn’t have a single five-wicket haul there.”
Ravichandran Ashwin has picked up 286 wickets in India only which also included 24 five-wicket hauls as well. Sanjay Manjrekar has also reckoned that despite his amazing record on Indian pitches, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is there to take on him in wicket-taking abilities as well.
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“And the other thing when you talk about him running through sides on Indian pitches that are suited to his kind of bowling is that in the last four years, Jadeja has matched him with wicket-taking abilities,” Manjrekar further added.
He also gave the example of the spinner Axar Patel who made his Test debut against England earlier this year and made headlines with 27 wickets in three Tests at home. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin was the leading wicket-taker of the series with 32 scalps but he has played in all four matches as well.
“Then, interestingly, in the last series against England, Axar Patel got more wickets than Ashwin on similar pitches. So that is my problem with accepting Ashwin as a real all-time great,” Manjrekar expressed.
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However, former Australia captain Ian Chappell has something else to say about Ravichandran Ashwin.
“I would like to make a couple of points there — if you look at Joel Garner, I mean how many five-wicket hauls Joel Garner has? Not many, when you consider how good he was and his record. And why, because he was performing with three other very, very fine players. And I think, particularly of late, I find that the Indian attack has been so strong that the wickets are being shared around more,” he added.
