Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh finally patch up after 'unhealthy banter'
After the intense debate regarding the nature of present day pitches in India, the off spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh have finally resolved their differences of opinion by clearing the air on the ‘unhealthy banter’ between them.
The episode which kick started on Twitter seemed to come to an end on the same platform when the Tamil Nadu all rounder played down the veteran’s comments by labeling him as his inspiration.
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In turn, Harbhajan responded warmly to Ashwin’s hand of friendship and wished him the best for India’s upcoming Test series against the likes of England and Australia.
Ashwin posted a message on his official Twitter account -
Harbhajan replied with a message that put the Twitter war to rest -
Earlier this month, Harbhajan had accused Indian curators of producing rank turners to assist Ashwin and fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja. Notwithstanding the severe backlash, the ‘Turbanator’ went on to claim that both his and current head coach Anil Kumble’s wicket-tally might have been ‘something else’ if they played on similar pitches in the peak of their careers.
Harbhajan’s statements drew the ire of numerous past and present cricketers such as Maninder Singh who pointed out his hypocrisy by referring to the identical nature of surfaces during his era as well. Skipper Virat Kohli also came to the rescue of his leading spinner by enquiring about the below par performance of New Zealand spinners despite bowling on the very same pitches.
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India had kick-started their highly anticipated home season by inflicting a 3-0 whitewash on the Kiwis in the recently completed series. Not surprisingly, Ashwin played the leading role in their triumph with as many as 27 wickets at an average of 17.77 including three five-wicket hauls. The 30-year old vaulted to the top of the ICC bowlers rankings following his performance which also fetched him his fourth successive Player of the Series award.
He got to another personal landmark after he became the second fastest to 200 Test wickets. More importantly, Kohli’s troops reclaimed the number one Test ranking and the accompanying mace as well through their dominant display.