New Delhi: The first match of the two-match Test series between India and New Zealand resulted in a draw at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. In the 1st Test match against New Zealand, veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin starred both with the bat and ball.
Ashwin played a crucial role in Ind vs NZ 1st Test. On Day 4, the spinner had played a second fiddle to debutant Shreyas Iyer to help India recover from 51/5 in their second innings. In the 2nd innings, Ashwin had departed in-form Will Young to put India on top at end of Day 4's play.
Reacting to Ashwin's heroics, senior Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik lauded the off-spinner and said that 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev and R Ashwin 'should be spoken of in the same breath'. The big statement of Karthik comes after Ashwin surpassed Harbhajan Singh in terms of taking most wickets in Test cricket for India. Ashwin is now the 3rd highest wicket-taker for India in the longest format.
"Obviously, I don't think I am in a place to judge both of them, but I must admit that they should be spoken of in the same breath when it comes to Indian cricket because both of them have been match-winners, have been exemplary, and have been definitely the two best all-rounders to have come out of this soil for a long, long time," Karthik said while speaking on the show 'Cricbuzz Chatter'.
"You have to put him there (among India's best all-rounders) with the number of Man of the Series he has won, the accolades he has got obviously. Getting 417 wickets in 80 Tests is an unbelievable record to have and the fact that he's contributed and scored five hundreds, much more than a lot of the batters who play for a longer period of time in Test matches. There are people who have played 30-35 Tests, and still haven't managed five hundreds," Karthik added.