Ashwin scores over Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar’s needless remark that Ashwin is not an all-time great cricketer, gets a fitting response — Ashwin reverts with sarcasm, other experts tick him off, saying he doesn’t merit a reply!
“Manjrekar’s comments simply don’t need a reply as I believe neither the player nor the team care about what’s being said. Let’s reserve judgements on where Ashwin stands in the pantheon of alltime greats when he is done with playing international cricket. On a lighter note, though, Sanjay Manjrekar’s comments usually do wonders as the guys prove him wrong.”
SUNIL SUBRAMANIUM, Ashwin’s childhood coach and once Indian team’s administrative manager
“Nothing much can we say about a bowler who’s taken 400 wickets. He’s been a match winner like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Ashwin’s been the best when conditions have been spin-friendly. He used the conditions much better than any bowler with his variations.”
VENKATPATHY RAJU, former spinner
MANJREKAR HAD EARLIER SAID THAT HE DIDN’T CONSIDER THE 34-YEAR-OLD OFF-SPINNER AN ALL-TIME GREAT BOWLER. “‘ALL-TIME GREAT’ IS THE HIGHEST PRAISE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT GIVEN TO A CRICKETER. CRICKETERS LIKE DON BRADMAN, SOBERS, GAVASKAR, TENDULKAR, VIRAT ETC ARE ALL TIME GREATS IN MY BOOK. WITH DUE RESPECT, ASHWIN NOT QUITE THERE AS AN ALL-TIME GREAT YET (SIC),” HE HAD TWEETED.
Team India’s top off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed his heart is ‘hurt’ in a sarcastic response to TV commentator Sanjay Manjrekar’s recent remark. Manjrekar had earlier said that he didn’t consider the 34-year-old off-spinner an all-time great bowler. Manjrekar defined ‘all- time great’ as per his understanding as, “‘All-time great’ is the highest praise & acknowledgement given to a cricketer. Cricketers like Don Bradman, Sobers, Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Virat etc are all time greats in my book. With due respect, Ashwin not quite there as an all-time great yet (sic),” he had tweeted. R. Ashwin — the highest Test wicket-taker among the current active international Test cricket players — responded to the comment with a hilarious meme on his Twitter page. He chose to post a still from the 2005-super hit Tamil movie Anniyan, in which the lead character (played by actor Vikram) tells his friend (played by the deceased actor Vivek), ‘Apdi solladha da Chaari, manasellam valikirdhu’ (‘Don’t say that, Chaari, my heart hurts). The post, oozing sarcasm, sat well with a part of Ashwin’s Twitter bio, which reads ‘Sarcasm and optimism my forte’.
A JEWEL
As the current ‘all-time great’ spat did its rounds on the Internet, Ashwin’s childhood coach and once Indian team’s administrative manager, Sunil Subramanium, told us, to him, Ashwin is a jewel.
“Manjrekar’s comments simply don’t need a reply as I believe neither the player nor the team care about what’s being said. Any man with 409 Test wickets from 78 matches, at a strike rate of 52.60, which is, incidentally, the highest strike rate of any spinner above 400 Test wickets (including Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralitharan (800 Test wickets) or Anil Kumble’s 619 Test wickets) and 611 international wickets at a strike rate of 46.7, is truly one of the jewels of the game,” Subramanium said.
Subramanium also added that according to him, Ashwin is one of the all-time best cerebral spinners in cricket. “Let’s reserve judgements on where he stands in the pantheon of all-time greats when he is done with playing international cricket,” he said and added, “On a lighter note, though, Sanjay Manjrekar’s comments usually do wonders as the guys prove him wrong.”
Interestingly, Manjrekar was also criticised last year, when he called Jadeja a bits-and-pieces cricketer.
R. Ashwin has done well for the country and himself. Without a doubt he is one of the best spinners in the cricketing world at present. Before an important final and the English summer where he will be very crucial for the team, I don’t want this to distract him. He is on a national duty and let him focus on the task in hand.