I was a huge fan of Harbhajan, says Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin recalled his admiration for Harbhajan Singh’s bowling action, his journey shaped by constructive criticism from Sanjay Manjrekar, and his reaction to James Anderson’s remarks on Virat Kohli’s double hundred. Harbhajan Singh added that sledging has reduced since the IPL era.

“Under Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy, I played Under-19 cricket for the first time. Back then, I used to bat a bit, and didn’t bowl as much. So, whenever I bowled, I used to bowl with Bhajju Pa’s bowling action because I was genuinely a fan,” former India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin said.

In a chat with JioStar, Ashwin recalled how he was a huge fan of former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

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“When Bhajju Pa came onto the scene, every day I used to copy his action while playing gully cricket. And actually, his dismissal of Ricky Ponting, and the dismissal of Matthew Hayden while bowling from over the stumps, during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, I watched all those matches very closely,” Ashwin recalled.

“But I never thought I’d become an off-spinner. In my mind, it was always batting. But when he used to bowl, there was something about him, his character, his ability to stand up to everyone and take the fight. So, I really liked that generation. I was genuinely a fan of him, and from there, I never imagined I would come this far,” he said.

On how constructive criticism served as fuel for him to get better: Ashwin said: “After my first Australia tour, Sanjay Manjrekar wrote a long article. When I was returning, I read the whole thing, and after reading it, I got really angry. I actually felt bad. Anger was just a reaction, but I felt really bad. But after that, I slept on the flight and let it go.”

“ Back then, I didn’t talk to Sanjay much. Then, after coming back home, I worked really hard for the next four years. I wasn’t a gifted athlete. I worked very hard, and in 2015, he wrote another article saying that I was bowling so well now and that he wanted me to keep performing like that,” he said.

“Then I asked for his number and messaged him that I had felt bad back then, but his article came to me like a guru and changed my life. Because there was substance in what he said. So, if I ever get criticised, I just think about whether there’s something to learn from it. If I feel there’s something to learn, I take it,” Ashwin said.

On James Anderson’s remark after Virat Kohli’s double hundred during England’s tour of India in 2016, Ashwin said: “Jimmy Anderson is a great bowler and bowled really well throughout his career, with unbelievable skills! They batted first and made 450-odd in the first innings in Mumbai. After that, we were 330 for six at one point before Virat smashed a magnificent double hundred. He completely took control and helped us overhaul their score, and we got to 630-odd.”

“We were about to inflict an innings defeat on them, and that very day, Anderson came for the press conference and said, ‘This is India, let him come to England.’ Man, how hard is it for you to give someone credit? So, I felt it was below the line. We have a lot of respect for him, but he shouldn’t have said that,” he recalled.

For his part, JioStar expert Harbhajan Singh reckoned that sledging has reduced considerably since the advent of the IPL.

“After the arrival of the IPL, the sledging and banter have reduced a bit because earlier, it used to happen a lot. But the IPL brought everyone closer as you share the dressing room with those players, you meet them regularly, play alongside them, and sit and chat together. But I feel that in sport, a little bit of banter, a bit of exchange, should be there, as long as it doesn’t cross the line,” he said.