Legendary India spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh, have cleared the air around their rumored 'rift' publicly.
In a YouTube show #KuttiStoriesWithAsh, the duo had a fascinating discussion on whether Harbhajan was ever jealous of Ashwin after the latter took over his place in the Indian men’s team across formats.
Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011. At that time, Harbhajan had already served the Indian team for 13 years and his powers were on the wane.
For some time, the featured in the squad together but eventually Ashwin went past Harbhajan in the pecking order with his impressive exploits across formats. He broke several of Harbhajan’s records before announcing his international retirement last December.
Speculations were rife about their rift mostly on the internet, fueled by the senior tweaker’s analysis of his junior in media.
“This whole jealousy bit, before I allow you to answer that, let me clarify something," Ashwin said in the trailer clip. “People look at everything from their perspective. For example, if they are passing a comment on me, they believe that others would see the world through their eyes. Their comments that you (Harbhajan) are jealous of this person who is interviewing you today (Ashwin), what would that be about, Bhajji pa?"
“Do you think I am jealous of you? You are sitting with me today, and we have spoken at length. Do you think I am that kind of person?" Harbhajan replied.
To this, Ashwin said he didn’t think that Harbhajan was jealous of him, but cited the example of Washington Sundar to claim that all of this was human nature and justified.
“Even if you were jealous at one point in time, I think it’s justified. That is my point, and I will never take it wrong because we are all human. Naturally, it is bound to be like that. Some people believe I retired because Washington Sundar is in the thick of things. All of this is the perspective of others," Ashwin said.
