IND vs SL 2022: Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the greatest Indian sportsmen of all time – Dinesh Karthik

India’s veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik has showered praise on Ravichandran Ashwin and hailed him as one of the greatest Indian sportsmen of all time.

Ashwin picked six wickets in the first Test match against Sri Lanka and went past Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets.

Ashwin has been a consistent performer for the Indian team over the years and he has played a key role in the success of the team. The off-spinner has done a fantastic job in the red-ball format and his record speaks for himself.

Ashwin has had a stellar career and he would look to continue the good show. The veteran had scalped two wickets in the first innings against Sri Lanka and then took four wickets in the second dig. The off-spinner now has 436 wickets in 85 Test matches at an average of 24.27. Furthermore, Ashwin has scored 2905 runs at an average of 27.15 and thus he has delivered the goods with both bat and ball.

Ashwin is known to make the most of his experience and he has always been lethal in Indian conditions as he has more than 300 Test wickets while playing in India.

“Ashwin has been thrown a lot of challenges over a period of time… and he’s ended up overachieving it. He’s been second to none. Look at the speed at which he’s done it. He’s taken wickets against every team. For me, he’s a complete all-rounder and arguably one of the greatest sportsmen to have played the sport.

“He’s been fabulous. He’s got runs with the bat when it matters the most. He’d scored a hundred recently against England on an absolute dust bowl. On his bowling, nine and a half left-handers would find playing Ashwin tough,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

“I don’t think he’s got the most gifted body. But he puts in a lot of work. He is never going to be the fastest man on the field but he’s got bowling fitness. He will bowl you long spells. As you get tired, your revolutions on the ball get to decrease… but with Ashwin, his fingers don’t get tired that easily. If you give him 30 overs, you will see the ball turning the same amount in 25-28 overs,” he further added.

Ashwin has ticked the right boxes in his career and it was a major milestone for him to overtake Kapil Dev’s tally. The off-spinner is now ninth on the list of highest wicket-takers in Test cricket and he is only three wickets away from equalling Dale Steyn record of 439 wickets.

The second Test match will be played in Bengaluru from Saturday.