Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir rated Ravichandran Ashwin as the 'greatest match-winner' for India after the legendary leg spinner Anil Kumble. Ashwin has now scored a hundred and picked a five-wicket haul in the same Test for the third time in his career during the second Test against England in Chennai.
By doing so, he is now behind only Sir Ian Botham, who managed to achieve the feat 5 times. The knock of 106 in the second innings was Ashwin's 5th Test hundred and figures of 5/43 in the first innings produced his 29th five-wicket haul in the longest format of the game.
This performance with the bat commands even more respect because the pitch has been criticized so much by English cricket experts and former cricketers that it is unplayable for the batsmen.
Gautam Gambhir told Star Sports, "There was so much talk about wicket and stuff, so many people talked that this is unplayable and stuff. He has shown it that he can do it with the ball and he can do it with the bat as well. He always had the talent, you can't have 5 Test hundred if you don't have talent and what better to get it at a place where you have actually grown up."
IND v ENG 2021: "Ashwin is pretty much unplayable in these conditions," says Sunil Gavaskar
"You have always dreamt of getting runs and especially Test hundred on your home ground and on a wicket like this, you have already taken a five-for, then you go and get a hundred which no other batter has got in this innings, what a feeling, what a Test match," he added.
The southpaw pointed out that Ashwin gets overshadowed by the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma but is actually India's greatest match-winner after Anil Kumble, who has a hundred and over 600 wickets in Test cricket.
Gambhir said, "He always goes under the radar a little bit, because there are players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah. What he has done in Test cricket for India is unbelievable, I don't see many players who have got five Test hundreds and are close to getting 400 Test wickets."
"Anil Kumble scored 1 Test hundred and took 600 wickets, he was probably the greatest match-winner India ever had and after him if I see the greatest match-winner India ever have had, it's Ravichandran Ashwin," he concluded.
