Ashwin wins praise from Bhajji after twin ICC awards
NEW DELHI: Cricket, they say, is a great leveller. A pair of big ICC awards for Ravichandran Ashwin has even moved Harbhajan Singh, once India’s leading offspinner. The Turbanator, as Harbhajan Singh is fondly called for his feisty approach towards the game, has praised Ashwin for bagging the ICC Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year awards on Thursday.
In September, when New Zealand were biting the dust against India in a Test series, Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin were caught in an unnecessary ‘war’ when the Punjab bowler hinted that India’s spinners picked wickets due to the rank turners that favoured home team bowlers.
Harbhajan Singh was quoted as saying: “What we used to get, can be termed as ‘little favour’ and what happens now is ‘lot of favour’. There’s hell and heaven of a difference between the two. There should be a balance between bat and ball. Neither the batsman nor the bowler should get extra advantage”
“Skill should be the deciding factor and not the conditions. Once the conditions start playing a bigger role, skill falls behind,” Harbhajan added.
Harbhajan’s quotes, at the height of India’s spin domination against the Kiwis, became the talking point of the series with even skipper Virat Kohli fielding questions at his media briefings ahead of the third Test in Indore.
Kohli dead batted Harbhajan Singh’s pitch jibe, saying: “See even if it is a turning pitch you have to bowl well. Spin doesn’t happen only off the pitch. Spin is about how many revs you impart off the shoulder first. And then the ball will do something off the pitch.
On Thursday, Harbhajan tweeted, “It has been a wonderful year for @ashwinravi99! Congratulations on winning @ICC cricketer of the year!”
Statistically speaking, Ravichandran Ashwin has been on a roll last year. In 20 Tests, he has taken 133 wickets at an average of 19.41 with 15 five-fors.”