R Ashwin opens up on bowling to Smith, Root and Williamson ahead of historic 100th Test

Ahead of playing his 100th Test match, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opened up about his tussles with Steven Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root in the longest format of the game. Alongside Virat Kohli, these cricketers are considered to be a part of the Fab Four of the modern era as all of them have exceptional numbers in red-ball cricket.

Ashwin, speaking about his rivalries with Smith, Williamson and Root, Ashwin stated that he enjoyed the battle against them as they are one of the finest batters in world cricket at the moment. 

“I have loved bowling to Steve Smith, Williamson and Joe Root. They are some of the finest batters going around the world now,” Ashwin was quoted as saying by The Print.

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The off-spinner added that the likes of S Badrinath, Mithun Manhas and Rajat Bhatia were excellent players of spin during his initial days and bowling to them made him a better bowler in international cricket. He gave credit to them for making him a better cricket, as he went on to pick more than 500 wickets in Test cricket.

“When I played first-class, I had the privilege of bowling to some of the gun batters of spin – I have bowled to S Badrinath at the Tamil Nadu nets and he was one of the finest batters of spin, then Mithun Manhas, Rajat Bhatia.

“These are some of the greatest batters of spin who I would have not wanted to encounter in international cricket. They were my finishing school before I went on to play international cricket. I’d like to take my hat out to them because they gave me some valuable lessons,” Ashwin added.

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Other than Ashwin, England international Jonny Bairstow too would play his 100th Test match in Dharamsala. Ahead of that, he gave credit to his mother, who worked really hard to support the stumper-batter during his tough days. Meanwhile, on his milestone match, Bairstow would expect to perform better, as he is going through a tough period, having scored just 170 runs in the four Test matches against India.