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Former Indian cricketer Laxman Sivaramakrishnan is currently in the news for some controversial statements he made on his X account. The 57-year-old was trolled after expressing some rather bold views on senior Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, which did not go down well with a number of cricket fans.
Sivaramakrishnan, also known as "Siva" and “LS”, is a former Indian leg-spinner, who was once touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. He claimed 12 wickets in a Test match against England in Mumbai in 1984/85. The then-youngster claimed another six-fer in the next Test in Delhi.
The leggie was one of the top performers when India lifted the World Championship of Cricket (WSC) in Australia in 1985. However, his international career nosedived quickly after that and he ended up playing only nine Tests and 16 ODIs.
Post-retirement, Sivaramakrishnan took to commentary like many of his former teammates. Some of his statements, however, have resulted in controversies. We look at three of them.
#1 Taking brutal digs at Ravichandran Ashwin
On Saturday, Sivaramakrishnan shocked cricket fans by making some rather strong statements on off-spinner Ashwin.
It all began when the former cricketer criticized the commentary panel picked for the 2023 World Cup. The 57-year-old described it as a “pathetic mix” and pointed out that there was not one genuine spinner in the commentary although the World Cup is being held in India.
The discussion then shifted towards flat pitches and Ashwin. Reacting to one of the comments, Sivaramakrishnan took a dig at the off-spinner and wrote:
“Indian batsman are struggling against spin because the pitches in India are doctored for Ashwin in Test matches. Look at his record in SENA Countries.”
It did not end there. In other responses that were widely shared on social media, Sivaramakrishnan referred to Ashwin as the “most unfit cricketer”. Another viral comment went as follows:
“Any fool will get wickets on tampered pitches in India”.
Later, Sivaramakrishnan claimed that he received a call from Ashwin to discuss his bowling action. He posted on X:
"Ravi Ashwin was nice enough to call me just a while ago to discuss his bowling action, he was as shocked with the venom of the trolls as I was . Also clarified that the people involved are in NO WAY connected to him. GOOD LUCK @ashwinravi99. Do us proud.”
On Friday, Sivaramakrishnan shared a picture of Ashwin’s bowling action and opined that a flaw in it was leading to a lack of synchronization.
#2 When Sivaramakrishnan issued an apology for taking a jibe at Deepak Chahar
India and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Deepak Chahar struggled with injuries during the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year due to a recurring back issue. Sivaramakrishnan found himself at the center of another controversy for cracking a joke on the injury-prone bowler.
In a post on X, former CSK batter Subramanium Badrinath asked fans who could be Chennai's top run-getter ahead of a match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Sivaramakrishnan was among those who posted a response and wrote:
"Deepak Chahar.”
The cheeky reply did not go down well with CSK fans, forcing Sivaramakrishnan to issue an apology. He later clarified:
“To all @CskIPLTeam. Me and Badrinath have these kind of vague and contradictory humorous exchanges on the golf course. I should not joked on Twitter. CSK is as much my favourite team like yours. Apologies. @CSKFansOfficial.”
CSK went on to win IPL 2023, defeating Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad in a nail-biting last-ball thriller.
#3 Slamming Irfan Pathan for Kuldeep Yadav analysis
Sivaramakrishnan also had a go at former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan after the latter shared his analysis of why Kuldeep Yadav has been more successful lately.
In a post on X in January this year, Pathan shared two images of the left-arm wrist-spinner and commented:
“Kuldeep Yadav has changed his run up angle that has changed his alignment & that is helping him to bowl quicker. Fantastic work by him.”
Sivaramakrishnan was, however, not impressed. He countered Pathan and stated:
“I don’t know what was discussed on commentary. Bowling fast does not help a spinner. You HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD, BALANCE YOUR BODY will allow Kuldeep to spin more through the air, hence being more effective. MORE SPIN MORE BITE OF THE PITCH, that’s why they are called Spinners."
“If they bowl quick it will skid of the pitch and not be effective. Bowling slower through the air, spinning more and a good finish is required. Bowl with the body and not your hand alone,” the former spinner added.
However, Pathan found quite a lot of support for his post on Kuldeep. One user replied to Sivaramakrishnan:
“He is a chinaman bowler. Bowling fast will be his strength as batsman would get less time to make sure which way it's going to turn. We are seeing the improvement as he is bowling fast. In between he was bowling too slow so easily predictable.”
Another added:
“If pitch is skiddy and bouncy isn't quicker one more effective?”
Incidentally, Kuldeep himself has admitted that adding some speed to his bowling has made him a better bowler.
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