Ahmedabad: At a time when there is too much talk on the standard of Motera pitch where the third Test between India and England got over inside two days, legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has 417 wickets from 113 Tests to his credit, heaped praise on Ravichandran Ashwin, who joined the club of 400 wicket-takers in the recently concluded Ahmedabad Test.
Though Axar Patel grabbed the limelight for scalping 11 wickets, including two fifers, in India's massive 10-wicket win, Ashwin was not far behind in the race of making contributions to the team.
Also Read: Five incredible years of Jasprit Bumrah
He took seven wickets in the Motera Test and reached the landmark 400 wickets. He eventually became the fourth Indian bowler to join the exclusive club. The veteran off-spinner also became the second-fastest to take 400 wickets after Muttiah Muralitharan. Ashwin took 77 matches to take 401 wickets while Muralitharan achieved the feat in his 72nd match against Zimbabwe in 2002.
Since Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh retired, Ashwin emerged as India's go-to spinner since his Test debut in 2011. Now after playing 77 Tests, as the off-spinner is on the verge of surpassing Harbhajan Singh's tally of 417 wickets, the 34-year-old received huge appreciation from the later.
"Taking 400 wickets is a very big thing and that too in Test cricket, a format which tests you mentally, physically and every other way. So to dismiss 400 batsmen in that and win the team match after match is a huge thing. There is no doubt that R Ashwin is a legend," Harbhajan said in a discussion with Star Sports.
"Even if he had not taken 400 wickets, it was not that he would not have been considered a legend because he has won India so many matches. It was great to hear Virat Kohli saying that he will be calling Ashwin as a legend going forward. I will also call him a legend when I meet him next time."
During the pink-ball Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ashwin bamboozled Ben Stokes for the 11th time in his career. Harbhajan said it is Ashwin's one of the biggest achievement.
Also Read: ICC unlikely to take action against Motera's 'substandard pitch'
Ashwin has developed a knack for taking wickets of key players. He had dismissed David Warner 10 times in Tests as well and had reasonable success against Steve Smith during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
"A bowler's main task is to take wickets and that too the one which is most essential for the team, the main batsman from the opposition team. If I see this England batting, there are two big names in Ben Stokes and Joe Root. They have the ability to take England to a situation from where they can control the match," Harbhajan added.
"So, R Ashwin has a greater responsibility to get them out and he has not done that now but has done that very well from the time he has been playing and I pray that he continues doing so going ahead, that R Ashwin keeps a stranglehold on the main batsmen from the opposition team," Harbhajan added.
