Sanjay Manjrekar, is back in the news again. This time for his comments about Ashwin not being an all-time great. Former cricketers have come in support of Ashwin. There are some famous names in that. However, what was such a simple tweet has become like a storm in a tea cup. Does such an innocent tweet by Manjrekar deserve such an emotional response? Was Manjrekar correct in his analysis? Let me try to offer some reasoning to Sanjay Manjrekar comments about Ashwin.
This is not the first time. Manjrekar has had several brushes with various cricketers and fellow commentators in the past. Be it Jadeja or Harsha Bhogle. He gives an impression that sometimes he does not really think before speaking. Manjrekar was roundly criticised for his below the belt remarks then. He had even apologised for his comments about them. This time he has poked someone who is not known for humbleness. Ashwin is a combative cricketer. He is someone who does not take criticism in the right spirit. He will always find answers to his critics even if they are genuine. Manjrekar has perhaps picked the wrong player to criticise.
What did Manjrekar comment?
“One basic problem I have with Ashwin is that when you look at SENA countries, Ashwin doesn’t have a single five-wicket haul there. And the other thing when you talk about him running through sides on Indian pitches that are suited to his kind of bowling is that in the last four years, Jadeja has matched him with wicket-taking abilities. Then, interestingly, in the last series against England, Axar Patel got more wickets than Ashwin on similar pitches. So that is my problem with accepting Ashwin as a real all-time great,” Manjrekar said
My assessment
Manjrekar is correct when he says that Ashwin does not have a single 5-fer in the SENA countries. Ashwin’s best has been 4/55 in Australia. Now, if Ashwin had only played a handful of tests, this criticism is not valid. However, he has played 20 tests in the SENA countries. It is only fair to expect any bowler to have taken atleast one 5 wicket haul in 20 tests.
To be fair to Manjrekar, he only wanted one 5 wicket haul in the SENA countries. It is not too high to wish for. Leave alone Manjrekar. Every bowler worth his salt will always want to pick up 5 wickets where the conditions does not really suit his style of bowling. It gives a bowler great satisfaction when conditions are not conducive. If a bowler fails to pick up a 5 wicket haul in his very first series to a country, it is understandable and acceptable. Afterall, the pitch and the surroundings are new for him and with limited exposure, it may not be possible for him to leave his mark.
However, when the same bowler tours the same country or countries multiple times, this excuse becomes invalid. He is aware of what to expect. How the pitches throughout the series is expected to behave. What must be his mode of attack and various other intangibles suddenly becomes tangible. Shane Warne, who perhaps singlehandedly resurrected leg spin bowling, despite his multiple failures in India, managed one 5 wicket haul during his last tour of the country.
Ashwin’s contemporary bowlers
Let us look at Ashwin’s contemporaries. Lyon has taken atleast one 5 wicket haul in all the countries except for New Zealand where he has played only a couple. Saeed Ajmal has in England and South Africa whereas he has played only one test in Australia and New Zealand. Yasir Shah has and even Jack Leach who has hardly played any, has one in Sri Lanka which for an England bowler is akin to an Indian bowler bowling in New Zealand. Rangana Herath, whom I least expected has taken more than 5 in Australia and South Africa.
Is taking 5 wickets the only criteria to become all-time great?
It certainly is not the only criteria but it is definitely one of the criteria. Ian Chappell has come to the defense of Ashwin.
“I would like to make a couple of points there — if you look at Joel Garner, I mean how many five-wicket hauls Joel Garner has? Not many, when you consider how good he was and his record and why, because he was performing with three other very, very fine players. And I think, particularly of late, I find that the Indian attack has been so strong that the wickets are being shared around more. And the other point I would make is because of Ashwin’s reputation I think the England players probably concentrated more on keeping Ashwin out and with Axar Patel, well, let’s be blunt about it, they didn’t have a bloody clue,”.
Chappell’s argument does not really wash
Only problem with this analysis is that yes, as told my Chappell, Joel Garner did play in a team of fast bowlers where wickets were shared. However, Ashwin, for a decent part of his career did not have that many bowlers to share the wickets. He had a yet to come off age, Ishant Sharma and a few others who couldn’t pick up wickets. Ashwin had all the opportunity to pick up wickets. It is only off late, after the emergence of Bumrah, Shami, Kumar and Ishant’s late resurgence, has the wickets been shared.
To make matters worse, Ashwin was dropped from some of the tests played in the SENA countries. Yes, Warne was dropped but for only one test.
Conclusion
Ashwin is undeniably an excellent cricketer but is he really an all-time great? That is an open ended question.
All said and done, Ashwin still have time on his side to prove Manjrekar wrong. He has 6 tests in England followed by another 3 in South Africa. Beyond that, I don’t see Ashwin travelling to the SENA countries again because of his age and his poor fitness. Manjrekar’s words will ring true if he fails in all these 9 tests to get atleast one 5-fer. Even Manjrekar’s harshest critics will have to accept. Let us hope that this comment of Manjrekar actually motivates Ashwin to perform better and help India win not only the WTC finals but the England series and the South African series as well.