“Ravichandran Ashwin and Kapil Dev should be spoken of in the same breath,” Dinesh Karthik has high praise for Indian off spinner
Dinesh Karthik and Ravichandran Ashwin have played together for India and Tamil Nadu.
Dinesh Karthik is of the opinion that Ravichandran Ashwin, as a test match allrounder, is of the same calibre as the former Indian captain Kapil Dev and whenever people talk about the greatest Indian allrounders in the longest format of the game, these two names should surface immediately.
A lot of people might not agree with this assessment of Dinesh Karthik as there are still a few question marks if Ashwin is a match-winner for India with the ball in overseas conditions, even though he played a crucial role in India’s triumph in Australia only a year ago.
It’s just because Ashwin is a spin bowler and whenever India tours overseas, his place is not certain in the XI, that a lot of people have created this perception around him that he is not a match winner overseas, but whatever limited opportunities he has got overseas, Ashwin has proven that he can make a match-winning contribution for India away from home as well.
Kapil Dev was someone who was always a certainty in the Indian XI wherever they were playing because he was a new ball bowler which is a certain requirement in any sort of conditions and he used to provide a lot of balance to the Indian XI with his ability to score quick runs down the order as well.
Ravichandran Ashwin has more wickets than Harbhajan Singh in 23 lesser test matches
But, Dinesh Karthik has no doubt in his mind that Ravichandran Ashwin has managed to create the same sort of impact that Kapil Dev created in test match cricket for India over his long, glittering career.
“Obviously, I don’t think I am in a place to judge both of them (Ashwin and Kapil Dev), but I must admit that they should be spoken of in the same breath,” Dinesh Karthik said speaking on a Cricbuzz talk show.
Ravichandran Ashwin has recently gone past the wickets’ tally of the Indian veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in 23 lesser test matches, which is quite a telling achievement given the fact that Harbhajan is a test match great himself.
