Ravichandran Ashwin emerged as one of the stars of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali. The 35-year-old picked up six wickets in the opening encounter of the two-match Test series to go past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets. Ashwin is now the second-highest wicket-taker for India in the longest format of the sport.
Following the match, captain Rohit Sharma lavished praise on the all-rounder and called him an all-time great. Speaking at India’s post-match press conference, Rohit said, “He is an all-time great in my eyes. He is playing for so many years and performed for the country. So many match-winning performances, so for me, he is an all-time great. People might have different point of views but from where I see, he is an all-time great for me.”
In a recent chat with BCCI, Ravichandran Ashwin reacted to Rohit’s admiration and admitted that he is not exactly good at handling compliments.
“I don’t know what to tell Rohit. I am very bad at receiving compliments. I don’t really know how to react or how to place myself.”
“Sometimes I can get emotional but I can’t really coin those words when I get emotional,” Ashwin went on to add.
The all-rounder also mentioned that he didn’t react to what Rohit Sharma said in the press conference until the next day when the team had breakfast together.
“Yesterday Rohit went out into the press conference and lavished praise on me and I really didn’t know how to react until this morning at the breakfast hall when I said it was very sweet,” he said.
The first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali was Rohit Sharma’s first match in charge of the team as full-time Test captain. Rohit drew plenty of praise for his bowling changes, field placements as well as team selection. Ashwin was also extremely impressed with the way the 34-year-old captained the side.
Shedding more light on his leadership, Ashwin said, “We all know how tactically strong Rohit is, but I saw a lot of human element in the way he led the side in this game. He is looking out for everyone in the team. How everyone would feel, how everyone’s confidence is very important for the engine room to function.”
