‘Murali was gifted, Ashwin is a smart operator’

Hyderabad: After Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest bowler to 250 Test wickets in terms matches played (45), Bangladesh's battingcoachthilansamaraweerasaidtheindian off-spinnercan'tbecomparedwiththeall-time leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan as they were two different bowlers.

"Murali was a genuinely gifted, talented cricketer. But Ashwin is very smart and has developed a skill set which says a lot about him. He has many variations, he can change his line and length but these two are hard to compare," said Samaraweera.

The former Sri Lanka batsman was also impressed by Indian cricket's "legacy" of producing one great player after another. "I am the biggest believer in legacies. Like Sunil Gavaskar set the benchmark and then Sachin Tendulkar chased that. He set a higher benchmark and now Virat Kohli is chasing that. With Ashwin, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh set the benchmarks, and now he is chasing that. If he plays for another 7-8 years, hopefully he is fit, he will be in the range between 600 to 800 wickets."

Meanwhile, Ashwin's teammate Cheteshwar Pujara said what made the offspinner such a cerebral bowler was that he "thinks like a batsman".

"Probably, he (Ashwin) is the toughest spinner when it comes to any opposition team. The teams now plan on how they are going to face Ashwin. I would like to congratulate him for reaching 250 wickets. The kind of brain he has, he thinks as a batsman, such as what are his weaknesses and the areas he needs to bowl. I think it’s his experience that makes him one of the strike bowlers in this team," Pujara said after stumps on day four.

In the first innings, Ashwin went for nearly 100 runs getting two wickets, but Pujara insisted it was so because he was given a restrictive role.

"He (Ashwin) understands that there are situations where he has to bowl tightly. If you look at first innings, he tried his best. He bowled to a plan. There might be some occasions, he can’t get wickets. But that’s the best part about this Indian team. We bowl as a unit, we bowl in partnerships, most of the times. Ashwin is the one who takes wickets and Jadeja plays the role of a holding batsman. Sometimes Ashwin has to play the role of holding the batsman and he did that in the first innings."

Meanwhile, Ashwin said it was "good to have the record out of the way". When Ashwin dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim in the first session, he surpassed Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee, who had reached the milestone in 48 matches.

"Today was one of those days when I started enjoying my spell right from the start. It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow. The wicket is not giving too much help for the spinners, we have to be very very patient in the morning session," Ashwin said after the match.

"It was a delight to bowl in the second innings. I was a little rusty in the first innings, got into a better rhythm in the second innings straightaway, bowling with the new ball."

He is the sixth Indian bowler after current coach Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434), Harbhajan Singh (417), Zaheer Khan (311), Bishan Singh Bedi (266) to take 250 Test wickets. — PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Number of Tests Ashwin took to claim 250 wickets. He beat Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee's record of reaching the milestone in 48 Tests. Among the Indians, he bettered Kumble’s mark by 10 matches