India's ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has recently added another feather to his cap by becoming India's second highest wicket-taker (436) in Tests by surpassing the great Kapil Dev (434). Since then then the comparisons are being drawn with Ashwin on one side and the former India star spinner Harbhajan Singh on the other. Both the spinners have proved their prowess as India's premium spinners with the kind of skillsets they have, however, Harbhajan recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after an illustrious career as Ashwin still has a milestone to break which is Anil Kumble's highest 619 Test scalps.
In the same stretch, former India star batter Gautam Gambhir was asked to give his verdict on best spinner between Harbhajan Singh and Ashwin. While he claimed Ashwin would trouble him more, the southpaw said Harbhajan was more delightful to watch. Notably, Gambhir has played a significant amount of cricket both with both off-spinners.
“As a batter, I would hate to face Ravichandran Ashwin, but I would love to watch Harbhajan Singh. This means, that as a left-hander, I would always feel that Ashwin could dismiss me, but as an analyst, then Harabhajan…he had that bounce, that doosra and could dip the ball,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
“And Ashwin, for a left-hander or any other batter, he is much more difficult to face because he is far more accurate and difficult because of his speed variations. Harbhajan Singh was more beautiful to watch,” he added. Meanwhile, Ashwin now stands ninth in the list of the highest wicket-taker in Test matches.
While Anil Kumble tops the list with 619 scalps, Harbhajan, who retired from all formats of the game last year, is now holding the fourth position with 417 wickets.
It's certainly becomes tough to pick the best among Ashwin and Harbhajan, given their instrumental contribution to Indian cricket with their ace bowling skills which speak volume about the success they have achieved.
Earlier, Ashwin dismissed Charith Asalanka in the recently-concluded first Test between India and Sri Lanka to bag his 435th wicket and surpass the legendary Kapi Dev on the list of India's highest wicket-taker in Tests. Ashwin currently has 436 wickets in 85 matches at an average of just over 24 including 30 five-wicket hauls and 7 ten-wicket hauls.
