‘Even if you were jealous…’: Ravichandran Ashwin speaks on alleged rift with Harbhajan Singh
Former Indian cricketers Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin have finally spoken on the alleged rift between them, with the recently retired Ashwin saying that even if the Indian spin great was indeed “jealous" of his success at one point, it was “justified and human."
The speculation stems from the period around 2015 when Harbhajan stepped away from Test cricket after a 103-match-long career with 417 wickets. His exit coincided with Ashwin’s rise as India’s frontline spinner and a genuine spin bowling all-rounder. Over the years, reports about a rift between these two bowling greats ran rampant on social media, with some of Harbhajan’s comments on Ashwin often taken as jabs towards his successor.
Speaking in a teaser of season three of “Kutti Stories with Ash” on Ashwin’s Instagram, Ashwin said to Harbhajan, “This whole jealousy bit. Before I allow you to answer that, let me clarify something. People look at everything from their perspective. For example, if they are passing a comment on me, they believe others view the world through their eyes. This comment that you are jealous of this person who is interviewing you today–what would that be about?"
To this, Harbhajan asked if Ashwin himself believed he was jealous. Ashwin replied, “Even if you were jealous at one point, it is justified. That is my point. I would never take it the wrong way because we are all human. Naturally, it is bound to be like that."
On his retirement from international cricket, which came during the middle of a disappointing Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Ashwin dismissed that he was retiring because 25-year-old Washington Sundar was slowly making a case for a regular spot in the team with consistent performances following his return to the Test side last year during the home season.
“Some people believe I retired because of Washington Sundar. He is in the thick of things now. All of this is the perspective of others," he concluded.
In 106 tests for India, the all-rounder took 537 wickets at an average of 24.00, with best figures of 7/59. He claimed 37 five-wicket hauls and eight ten-wicket match hauls in his Test career. He is the eighth-highest wicket-taker in Tests overall and the second-highest for India, behind Anil Kumble (619 wickets). Ashwin also holds the record for the second-most five-wicket hauls in Tests, trailing only Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (67).
With the bat, Ashwin scored 3,503 Test runs at an average of 25.75, including six centuries and 14 fifties in 151 innings, with a highest score of 124.
In 116 ODIs, he picked up 156 wickets at an average of 33.20, with best figures of 4/25, and scored 707 runs at an average of 16.44, including one fifty and a knock of 65 in 63 innings. He is the 13th-highest wicket-taker for India in the format. In 65 T20Is, he claimed 72 wickets and scored 184 runs in 19 innings.
Across all formats, the 38-year-old tallied 765 wickets in 287 matches, making him India’s second-highest wicket-taker after Kumble (953 wickets).
Ashwin was also a key member of the Indian teams that won the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
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