A One-Off Genius Like Ashwin Comes Very Rarely: Ramiz Raja
Published - 01 Jun 2021, 04:22 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 03:45 PM
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has heaped high praise on champion off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, stating that the Indian cricketer is a ‘one-off genius’, someone who should be valued immensely.
Ravichandran Ashwin has impinged himself as one of the greatest spinners that this beautiful game has ever seen. Having made his Test debut against the West Indies in 2011, the champion spinner has gone from strength to strength during the course of the last decade to emerge as India’s biggest match-winner in the longest format of the game.
Apart from being the joint-fastest to claim 350 Test wickets, Ashwin also happens to be the second-fastest after Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan to claim 400 Test wickets. The right-handed off-spinner, who finished the WTC cycle as India’s leading wicket-taker, achieved the feat during the recent Test series against England.
Apart from being only the fourth Indian to claim 400 Test wickets, the Tamil Nadu cricketer also has five Test hundreds against his name.
”Ashwin is an amazing off-spinner. He has the floater, he spins the ball, delivers the ball from different angles and is intelligent. A one-off genius like him comes very rarely. So you should value him a lot,” said Ramiz Raja during an interaction with India Tv.
When asked about Pakistan’s inability to produce a quality off-spinner since the likes of Saqlain Mushtaq and Saeed Ajmal, Ramiz Raja reckoned that the ban on ‘doosra’ has played a huge role in it.
”The two individuals you talked about, they had based their greatness on the Doosra. Since the time the Doosra has been sidelined, the spinners have to show themselves like Ashwin,” observed Raja.
‘Ashwin’s greatness is that he adjusts his bowling according to the different conditions’- Ramiz Raja
Ramiz Raja further added that if Ashwin can maintain his fitness then he can possibly break Muttiah Muralitharan’s record of most Test wickets- 800.
He signed off by stating that the Indian cricketer’s greatness lies in the fact that he adjusts his bowling according to the conditions on offer.
In an era where the off-spinners can no longer resort to bowl the doosra reckoned that the champion Indian cricketer knows when to attack and when to bowl the defensive line.
’The pace at which he has been taking wickets, I feel he can break the record as well if he remains fit. His greatness is that he adjusts his bowling according to the different conditions,” said Ramiz Raja.
”It is very difficult to be an attacking off-spinner when you do not have the Doosra. The art of off-spin changed from defensive to attacking because of the Doosra. Ashwin has so many varieties, even without the Doosra he tests the technique of the batsmen with different angles. He is mentally strong, has been doing captaincy, has the idea when to attack and when to be defensive. It is difficult to bowl with the fielders up and he is very accurate,” signed off Raja.
