Abhinav Mukund 'respectfully' disagrees with Manjrekar, says R Ashwin has been 'fantastic'

Tamil Nadu batsman Abhinav Mukund has come out in support of senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and has also said that he 'respectfully' disagrees with commentator & cricket pundit Sanjay Manjrekar's statement.

Sanjay Manjrekar had said that senior Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is not one of the all-time greats as he does not boast of having registered a fifer in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand & Australia) countries.

Abhinav Mukund disagrees with Sanjay Manjrekar on Ashwin

"He just loves the game. Ashwin is actually a guy who will research everything there is to cricket. He just needs to be one of those very well prepared individuals who go on to a cricket field and that kind of shows in the way he has performed, especially in Test match cricket. He’s been fantastic," said Abhinav Mukund during an interaction with stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant on his official  YouTube channel 'Wake Up With Sorabh'.

"I read an article today where Sanjay Manjrekar said that 'I disagree that he is a legend of the game'. I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Manjrekar and say he is a legend of the game because he holds several world records", he added.

'One basic problem I have with Ashwin is...': Sanjay Manjrekar

Earlier during the interactive session, Sanjay Manjrekar had opined why he feels that Ravindra Jadeja has matched with R Ashwin's bowling abilities and the reason behind the Tamil Nadu cricketer not being considered as 'one of the greatest players' to have played the game in his books.

"When people start talking about him as being one of the all-time greats of the game then I have a few problems. One basic problem I have with Ashwin is that when you look at SENA countries, Ashwin doesn't have a single five-wicket haul there," said Sanjay Manjrekar while speaking on the ESPNcricinfo programme ‘Runorder’.

"And the other thing when you talk about him running through sides on Indian pitches that are suited to his kind of bowling is that in the last four years, Jadeja has matched him with wicket-taking abilities. Then, interestingly, in the last series against England, Axar Patel got more wickets than Ashwin on similar pitches. So that is my problem with accepting Ashwin as a real all-time great," the cricketer-turned-commentator/analyst added.

What's next for R Ashwin?

R Ashwin will next be seen in action during the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand that will be contested at Ageas Rose Bowl in Southampton on June 18. After the one-off Test match, Virat Kohli & Co. will face England in a five-match Test series starting August 4.

 It remains to be seen whether or not R Ashwin will get a chance to make his ball talk in the ICC WTC final as the current top two Test sides battle it out for the biggest prize in red-ball cricket and the right to be called 'World Test Champions'.