Sanjay Manjrekar clarifies his ‘all-time great’ comment on R Ashwin

Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has never been shy of making bold statements. Known for his carefree nature, the former player has often found himself in the line of fire of many owing to some radical opinions related to both the game and certain players.

He was at it again recently when he went on to iterate that Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin does not come in his list of ‘All-time greats’. Notably, R Ashwin has been one of not India’s but the world’s leading spinner in the last decade. Even as his cricketing pedigree needs no certification, his numbers speak for his case.

Ashwin has bagged more wickets than anyone else in international cricket (611) since his international debut, with James Anderson following him with 559 wickets in the said duration. The 34-year-old has also been the leading wicket-taker for India in the decade gone by, with 564 scalps to his name, while he is the quickest to the landmarks of wickets in all multiples of 50 to 400 for India in Tests.

‘All- time great’ is the highest praise & acknowledgement given to a cricketer. Cricketers like Don Bradman, Sobers, Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Virat etc are all time greats in my book. With due respect, Ashwin not quite there as an all-time great yet. ?#AllTimeGreatExplained?

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) June 6, 2021

Having won a Player of the Series for a record eight times in Tests, Ashwin has established his name with some force in the international as well as domestic and IPL arena. That said, Manjrekar reckons that the “All-time great” is the highest praise and acknowledgement, which Ashwin cannot be bestowed with just yet.

Sanjay Manjrekar received severe flak for his ‘I have a problem with Ashwin being an all-time great‘ remark, as he took the performance in SENA countries (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) into consideration, where the off-spinner is yet to claim a fifer. The 55-year-old went on to suggest that Ravindra Jadeja has managed to match Ashwin in foreign conditions, whereas he rated Axar Patel highly for picking more wickets than Ashwin during the home Test series against England.