India skipper Rohit Sharma on Sunday (March 6) hailed Ravichandran Ashwin as "all-time great" after the veteran spinner went past Kapil Dev's tally of 434 wickets to become the country's second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.
Rohit’s comments came after India’s emphatic innings and 222 runs victory over Sri Lanka in his first Test as captain. Ashwin returned with six scalps in the match at Mohali and his current tally stands at 436 wickets.
"It's a big thing in his cricketing career to achieve that feat you know," Rohit said when asked about Ashwin's feat in just 85 Tests.
"When you grow up wanting to play Test cricket, you don't dream about these things and so to surpass that is a big achievement on his behalf. You know, I have been watching Ashwin for a long time now and every time I watch him, he seems to get better and better.
"Ashwin is one such player who always has confidence is in his ability in what he wants to achieve and for the team as well," the captain further said.
"He is an all-time great in my eyes. He is playing for so many years and performed for the country. So many match winning performances, so for me he is an all-time great. People might have different point of views but from where I see, he is an all-time great for me," Rohit added.
While Ashwin is a certain pick in the playing XI on spin-friendly surfaces in Asia, the same can't be said about his performances in SENA countries. In fact, he didn’t get a chance to play a Test match on the tour of England last year and failed to make an impact during the recent South Africa tour in three Tests.
"Really, can't tell you anything about his overseas place and why doesn't he find it and why is he in not in the eleven," Rohit said.
"Obviously, I have no idea as I wasn't part of the selection at that point and I can't tell you what happened and why was he left out and why didn't he play and those kind of stuff," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
