IND v ENG 2021: "Happy to see R Ashwin get the recognition he deserved years ago," says Saba Karim

Karim is in awe of the spinner's carrom ball to dismiss Ollie Pope in the third Test.

R Ashwin celebrating his 400th Test wicket | BCCI

Former Indian wicket-keeper Saba Karim is happy to see ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin get all the recognition that he should have got a few years ago.

Ashwin picked up his 400th Test wicket in the third Test against England at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad last week. He had gotten to his 5th Test hundred a week earlier and is appreciated by cricket fans all over the world.

The Tamil Nadu cricketer was also one of the major contributors during Team India's victory over Australia in January 2021. Saba Karim is happy to see all this from Ashwin and believes that he has deserved all this recognition from a few years ago.

Karim said, "I am happy R Ashwin is getting the recognition he should have got many years ago. I have always been troubled that whenever the Indian team has gone to play outside the Asian sub-continent, he has faced harsh decisions quite a few times."

IND v ENG 2021: Atherton picks R Ashwin’s delivery to dismiss Ollie Pope as ball of Ahmedabad Test

"If he has bowled one bad spell or not bowled well in a Test match, he has been dropped quite a few times. I have always felt that he has not been treated properly."

"I am happy that he is coming forward now as a true match-winner and he is not only getting respect in his team, but a lot of cricket fans and former cricketers have got the belief that he is definitely a match-winner and a complete all-rounder. He has come and scored runs in difficult situations quite often," Karim during a discussion on India News.

Ashwin produced two brilliant carrom balls to Ollie Pope in the third Test. In both innings, Pope missed the delivery that pitched and held its line taking the off-stump for a stroll. Saba Karim was extremely impressed by those dismissals.

He said, "I will always remember two deliveries from the last Test match, the way he dismissed Ollie Pope in both innings by bowling a carrom ball, one from over the stumps and the other from round the stumps."

"He showed the intelligence and dismissed Ollie Pope in a brilliant fashion, who was the only player looking to play the spinners after stepping out," he concluded.

(With inputs from India News)

 
 

By Sameer Deodhar - 01 Mar, 2021

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