As Team India gears up for the fifth and final Test against England on Thursday, all eyes will be on Ravichandran Ashwin who will be representing the country for the 100th time in the longest format of the game. The veteran off-spinner becomes the 14th Indian cricketer to have played 100 or more Test matches for India. But ahead of the milestone game, former India spinner Laxman Sivaramakrishnan has accused Ashwin of ignoring his calls and messages.
Sivaramakrishnan took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, stating that he tried calling and texting Ashwin to congratulate him on his achievement and alleged that the 37-year-old ignored them all.
“Tried calling him a few times to wish him for his 100th Test. Just cut off my call. Sent him a message, no reply. That’s the respect we former cricketers get,” Sivaramakrishnan replied to one of the tweets praising Ashwin.
The former Indian cricketer’s cricketers led to massive trolling on social media as the netizens reminded him of his harsh remarks on Ashwin last year. In one of his posts, Sivaramakrishnan had said, “Any fool will get wickets on tempered pitches in India” and even called the off-spinner a ‘liability fielder’ and ‘most unfit cricketer’.
Sivaramakrsihnan further clarified his past statements, saying, “Respect comes only from cultured people. Btw, I was earlier tweeting about a minor correction in his action and not criticizing him. If only people understood.”
A monumental game in Dharamsala
Ashwin will join the likes of great Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, to name a few, in the list of cricketers to have represented India in 100 Tests.
Lauding his teammate in the pre-match presser, captain Rohit Sharma said no praise is enough for Ravichandran Ashwin and called him a “rare” talent.
“(It’s a) big achievement for any player to play 100 Tests. It is a big milestone. He has been a match-winner for us. What he has done for us, no praise is enough,” Rohit said on the eve of the match.
“His performances over the last five-seven years, every series he has contributed. It is rare to have players like him.
“I want to congratulate him for his 100 test landmark, of course, to get near it as the toss hasn’t happened. It feels good to reap the rewards of your hard work,” the skipper said.
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