Mittiah muralitharan

ASHWIN IS THE GREATEST BOWLER: One of the premier off-spinner of his time, Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan reacted negatively when Ravichandran Ashwin was drafted into the Indian team as a replacement for Harbhajan Singh. Saqlain called Ashwin's entry into the team a “premature selection”. On Wednesday when the off-spinner from Chennai announced his retirement from international cricket as the second most successful off-spinner after Mittiah Muralitharan with 537 wickets in 106 Tests, Saqlain says Ashwin forced him to change his views.

Though they have never played against each other, Saqlian has over the years become a fan of Ashwin's bowling.

"When Ashwin was drafted into the Indian Test team in 2011, I gave an interview and described it as a premature selection because I thought Harbhajan was still good enough then to continue. But I must admit Ashwin changed my views with his rapid rise, intelligence, and craft to trap the best batters that made him one of the greatest spinners in world cricket,” Saqlain told Telecom Asia Sport in an exclusive interview.