“Hallmark of a skipper” – Sunil Gavaskar lauds Rohit Sharma for giving due credit to Ravichandran Ashwin on his 100th Test

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has hailed Rohit Sharma for giving his due credit for Ravichandran Ashwin on his 100th Test. Ashwin played his 100th Test match against England at Dharamsala earlier in the year.

The off-spinner has scalped 522 wickets in 101 Test matches at an average of 23.7 and has performed consistently in the red-ball format. In the opening Test match against Bangladesh, Ashwin scored a fine knock of 113 runs and added a crucial alliance of 199 runs with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 86 runs.

Furthermore, Ashwin returned with impressive figures of 6-88 in the second essay and thus he was awarded Player of the Match.

Gavaskar wrote for Mid-Day, “Rohit acknowledged Ashwin’s contributions by letting him lead the team out to field in the all-rounder’s 100th Test, a hallmark of a skipper confident and relaxed in his own skin and ready to step aside and give the accolades to the achiever.”

The Little Master feels it would have been fitting if the veteran duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin had led India in at least one Test match.

“In the first Test of the current two-test match series, the way the two Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja brought the team back in the game showed this team is never done and can get back even if the referee has reached the count of eight. Both these all-rounders have been magnificent over the years and rescued and then won several games for India.”

“It would have been fitting if they had captained India too even if it was for one game, but for them winning matches for India is the only thing that matters” he added.

Jadeja also picked five wickets in the opening Test match against Bangladesh and needs one more wicket to complete 300 scalps in the red-ball version.