Ravichandran Ashwin, the Indian off-spinner has revealed that his teammates used to make fun of him because he used to bowl like veteran former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh during his early years in cricket.
The 34-year-old spinner made the disclosure after breaking Harbhajan Singh’s record en route to becoming the 2nd highest wicket-taker at home among Indian bowlers.
Ravichandran Ashwin: Teammates Used To Make Fun For Bowling Like Harbhajan Singh
The ‘Turbanator’ picked up 265 wickets in India averaging 28.76. At the end of England’s first innings where the visitors were bundled out for a paltry 134, Ravichandran Ashwin now has picked 268 wickets at an average of 22.54. Speaking at a press conference at the end of the second day’s play of the second Test against England, Ravichandran Ashwin narrated:
“Lot of my teammates from that age, from that generation, you know, used to make fun of me, because I used to bowl like Bhajju Pa, my action, I used to try and bowl like him and all that.”
“So, from there on to come one and actually break the record of something that he possesses, has to be incredibly special. I didn’t know of it, now that I do know of it, I feel happy. Sorry, Bhajju Pa…,”.
Ravichandran Ashwin claimed excellent figures of 5 for 43 as India bundled England for a paltry 134 in response to their first-innings total of 329. The off-spinner went past Harbhajan Singh when he cleaned up Ben Stokes for 18.
Harbhajan Singh Tweets Ravichandran Ashwin Is A Champion And Wished Him To Achieve More Success And Break More Records
Ravichandran Ashwin candidly admitted that as a budding cricketer in his early days, he wasn’t even sure if he would go on to play for India while reacting to the record.
He recalled: “When I was watching the 2001 series where Bhajju Pa (Harbhajan) was playing, I didn’t even imagine that I would go out and become an off-spinner for the country. I was still a batsman for my state, trying to accelerate a career towards batting and playing for the country, I wasn’t sure whether I would go on and become a player for the Indian team.”
Reacting to Ravichandran Ashwin’s excellent record, Harbhajan Singh termed him a “champion bowler” and wished him many more successes and hoped he broke many more records. The 40-year-old tweeted:
You are a champion @ashwinravi99 I wish you many more records far bigger than this.. keep it up.. More power to you brother 🤝 God bless https://t.co/bGd5kUAmnD
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) February 14, 2021
Ravichandran Ashwin is now second on the list of Indian bowlers with the most Test wickets at home. Anil Kumble still leads the pack, having scalped 350 wickets in home Tests. Playing in his 76th Test, Ravichandran Ashwin has so far claimed a total of 391 wickets at an average of 25.26, with 29 five-wicket hauls.
He is only nine wickets away to claim 400 Test wickets for Indians in the longest format to join the elite club with Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, and Kapil Dev.
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