Muttiah Muralitharan rates Ravichandran Ashwin as the best in the world

Legendary former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan feels that India’s Ravichandran Ashwin is currently the best spinner in the world and his achievement so far has been extraordinary. The Tamil Nadu-born bowling all-rounder became the fastest to reach 300 test wickets in his 54th Test match, breaking Dennis Lille’s record during the 2nd Test against Sri Lanka in Nagpur.

Muralitharan congratulated Ashwin on his latest feat and said that it is not an easy job. He also hoped that Ashwin would return to the ODI side soon. The spin-twin of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were dropped from limited overs squad since the away tour to Sri Lanka, earlier this year.

Murali rates Ashwin highly

“I want to congratulate him (Ashwin). It’s a big achievement as getting 300 Test wickets is not an easy job. Definitely, he is the best spinner in the world at the moment,” Muralitharan said. “He is not in the One-Day team but hopefully he will return and do wonders in the shorter formats also,” said the Lankan, who enjoys sitting at the top with the world record of bagging 800 wickets in 133 Test matches.

The Lankan stressed on fitness and said that a lot will depend on how Ashwin stays away from injuries. “He (Ashwin) is hardly 31, 32 years old and can play for another 4-5 years at least. But it will also depend on how he performs and remains injury free. Only time will tell as it will be very hard for him after 35,” said Muralitharan.

There have been a lot of talks regarding the over-kill of the rivalry between India and Sri Lanka, Muralitharan played it safe and said that Virat Kohli must be getting bored winning it all. “I can’t say there is too much of (India-Sri Lanka) cricket but may be Virat (Kohli) is getting bored of winning every time,” he said.