While the Indian youngsters made a mark in the New Zealand series, one veteran stood tall with his phenomenal show with the ball.
Indian cricket was in hot waters following their early exit from the T20 World Cup, but a 3-0 whitewash over New Zealand at home and a 1-0 win in Tests was good enough to label it as a one-off affair. Surely, with Ravi Shastri’s coaching tenure over and Virat Kohli’s reign as India’s limited-overs captain coming to an end, the fresh combination featuring Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid in white-ball and the Kohli-Dravid pair in Tests seems to bode well for Indian cricket.
While there were several individual pieces of brilliance during the two Tests against New Zealand – Shreyas Iyer scoring a century on debut, Mayank Agarwal roaring back to form with a hundred in Mumbai and Mohammed Siraj striking with the new ball – a veteran stood tall with his phenomenal show with the ball. After missing the Test series in England, he picked up 14 wickets at home in two Tests, enough to fetch him a record-equalling ninth Player of the Series award.
Yes, we are talking about none other than the country’s premier spinner, R Ashwin. During the NZ Tests, Ashwin achieved a few landmarks by becoming India’s third-highest Test wicket-taker and capturing 50-plus wickets in a year yet again. His greatness has been talked about by all, including former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, who feels the world does not need him to acknowledge Ashwin to prove the 35-year-old’s greatness.
Ganguly lavished praise on Ashwin, calling him an all-format, all-conditions player. Highlighting his achievement across formats and series – be it the IPL, or his role in some of Indian cricket’s finest moments – the former India captain is proud seeing what Ashwin has achieved, calling him a player who ‘cannot be ignored’.
“I don’t see a reason why (I shouldn’t back him). Look at the number of winning teams he has been a part of. 2011 World Cup, he was part of the winning team for India. 2013, when he won the Champions Trophy, he was a leading bowler in that tournament. When CSK won IPLs, he was the main bowler for them, bowling in the powerplay and difficult situations,” added Ganguly.
“Look at his Test record, it is phenomenal. It does not need me to say Ravichandran Ashwin is exceptional. His record and his performances show it. And you can’t ignore such players. You cannot just turn your eyes and say that he’s gone. I am not surprised with what he is doing.”
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