Kapil Dev continues to be the benchmark on which India allrounders continued to be measured. The Indian team has long been in the hunt for the legendary captain’s successor but the chase continues.
Despite there being some worthy candidates in the past, none has come close to doing what Kapil achieved during his storied career. And then there’s the small matter of him leading an unfancied India to their first ever ODI world title in 1983, a moment that is said to have revolutionised the game in the country.
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However, judging purely on Test numbers, Kapil has a credible competitor in Ravichandran Ashwin who hasn’t been in the ‘greatest allrounders’ conversation but continues to peel off momentous performances with both the ball and the bat.
The 36-year-old offspinner is already ahead of Kapil (434 wickets) in Test wickets column having taken 449 scalps so far. And he also has a chance to overtake his countryman in the runs column too but the gap is quite significant as of now – Ashwin needs to score 2214 runs more in Test cricket just to draw level with Kapi’s tally of 5248 runs.
While that may have to wait, there’s no denying that Ashwin, statistically speaking, is the second best India allrounder in Test history after Kapil.
And what does he think of that?
“I don’t want to sound too humble or too sceptical,” Ashwin told The New Indian Express. “But when you do something in your life, you want to be the best at what you want to do, right? Kapil Dev is not just a great Indian cricketer, but is one of the greatest cricketers the world has seen. And if you take up the bat and the ball, I suggest, any child, any kid that is taking the ball or the bat today must be aspiring to be the best in the world. It doesn’t matter who’s done it in the past, you have to want to be the best in the world.”
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Ashwin has five centuries to his name besides 13 half-centuries as well and more recently, he stitched a match-winning partnership with Shreyas Iyer against Bangladesh on a tough wicket to guide India to a thrilling win – the latest in the list of his impactful contributions with the bat.
Ashwin says he tends to enjoy the pressure situations.
“When you play for India, expectations are going to be there. You’re bound to have expectations. But you can’t allow that to bog yourself down. You know, I am someone who lives for the big moments and pressure moments. So for me, anytime there is a big match, any time there’s a lot of pressure I really enjoy it. So, I’m looking forward to the pressure,” Ashwin said.
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