Ashwin currently has 442 wickets to his name in the longest format.
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar on Tuesday (15th March) backed R Ashwin to surpass Anil Kumble’s tally of 619 Test wickets. He admitted that even though the landmark is far away, the off-spinner's hunger to get better with every passing game can help him achieve the feat in the coming years.
Ashwin has been one of the best spinners India has ever produced. Over the years, the ace off-spinner has been the mainstay of the Indian bowling line-up in the traditional format and also the second-fastest bowler in Tests to breach the 400-wicket milestone.
The Tamil Nadu-born spinner recently surpassed Kapil Dev to become the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests, just behind Anil Kumble (619). He achieved the feat in the first match against Sri Lanka in Mohali, where he took 6 wickets.
Ashwin then again took 6 wickets in the recently concluded pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Dale Steyn’s tally of 439 wickets to become the 8th overall highest wicket-taker in Tests with 442 wickets to his name.
Speaking to Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar said that although Anil Kumble’s record is 160 wickets away, R Ashwin has the capability to surpass him. He believes that the senior off-spinner gets better every time he plays and doesn’t rest on his ‘laurels’.
"It's still a fair distance to go, we are talking about another 160 wickets. But he is capable of doing that because he just keeps getting better. He doesn't rest on his laurels," Sunil Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar correlated Jasprit Bumrah, who took 8 wickets in pink-ball Test, with R Ashwin, saying that like the off-spinner he is also trying new things to add to his ‘repertoire’. He recalled how Ashwin once added leg-spin as a variety in his bowling.
"Jasprit Bumrah, who got into Test cricket after Ashwin, is exactly like Ashwin in the sense that he is always looking to add to his repertoire. That is what Ashwin does. At a time a year and year-and-half-ago, Ashwin was tyring leg-spin because you can as variety ball bowl that, especially if you have got 500 runs in the bank," he said.
Sunil Gavaskar further said that Ashwin’s urge to try new things and create doubts in batter’s mind makes him different from others. He feels off-spinner and Jasprit Bumrah are similar as they are not happy with taking easy wickets.
"He is not afraid to experiment. Yes, he might hit, that's the nature of the game. But the fact that he is doing something different and wanting to create doubts in the batter's mind.
“He and Bumrah are so similar in that aspect, aggressive bowlers, wanting to get wickets and not just happy with getting those easy wickets. They want to make sure they have got the batters,” he said.
Both Ashwin and Bumrah will now be next seen in action during the IPL 2022. While the off-spinner will play for the new franchise Rajasthan Royals, the ace pacer was retained by Mumbai Indians.
(Star Sports inputs)