As Ravichandran Ashwin approaches his landmark 100th Test in the 5th Test against England at Dharamsala starting Thursday, the spinner hailed some of India’s domestic giants as ‘one of the best players of spin’.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of the final Test, Ashwin looked back on his first-class journey and name-dropped some of the Indian domestic circuit’s finest batters he has seen in his long career. The 41-year-old was grateful for having the chance to bowl against some of these names reflecting on his illustrious career.
The spinner praised the modern-day greats in international cricket but went on to shower praise on first-class greats who have gave him lessons to improve his game.
“I’ve loved bowling to Steven Smith, Williamson and Joe Root. They’re some of the finest batters going around the world right now. But before international cricket, I played first-class cricket, I had the absolute privilege to bowl to some of the gun batters of spin that I’ve ever encountered,” said Ashwin.
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“I’ve had the privilege of bowling to him in the nets, but I haven’t encountered much of him in the game – Badrinath (Subramaniam Badrinath). I felt he was one of the finest batters of spin,” Ashwin hailed the fellow TN great.
Badrinath was the mainstay of the Tamil Nadu side in the 2000s. The batter scored over 10,000 runs in the first-class format, establishing himself as a domestic great. He also went on to take the side to the Ranji Trophy final on three occasions in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2011-12.
Ashwin added,” Mithun Manhas from Delhi is one of the finest players of spin. Rajat Bhatia, again from Delhi. These are I feel still some of the greatest batters of spin that I would’ve completely not wanted to encounter in international cricket.”
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Manhas was a key figure in Delhi’s championship run during the 2007-08 Ranji season. He scored 598 runs to help his side end their title drought after 16 years. The batter has gone on to score over 9000 runs in the FC format as well.
Bhatia, who also played for Delhi during their title-winning season, scored 525 runs and picked up 26 wickets. The all-rounder has been a big name in the domestic circuit with the ability to contribute with both bat and ball. In his first-class career, he racked up over 6000 runs and picked up 137 wickets.
Ashwin has gone on to face some of the greats that international and Indian cricket has to offer in what has been a long career as he prepares himself for his milestone 100th Test.
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