“Miandad will win the battle against me” – Ravichandran Ashwin

India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently shared his thoughts on how player battles would go if selected greats from the 90s would square off against modern day stars

An Instagram poll doing the rounds, shared also on Ashwin's story, asked fans to pick who they think will win the individual battle if these players faced each other.

There were six head-to-head battles, including Ashwin vs Pakistan’s Javed Miandad. The others were Virat Kohli vs Waqar Younis, Babar Azam vs Anil Kumble, Saeed Anward vs Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma vs Wasim Akram, and Sachin Tendulkar vs Shaheen Afridi.

Ashwin posted the picture of the battles on his story, along with the caption:

“Miandad will win the battle against me. What a fabulous player he was. I just wish there was a Time Machine.”

Ravichandran Ashwin's latest Instagram story

Ashwin's Instagram story comes days after the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the schedule for the 2024 T20 World Cup, where India will play arch-rivals Pakistan in a high-voltage clash in New York on June 9. The two teams have not played a bilateral series since 2013, adding more weightage to an already charged up cricketing rivalry.

Speaking about Ashwin's opponent Miandad, the former Pakistani batter played 124 Tests and 233 ODIs, scoring 16123 runs across formats, including 31 tons and 93 half-centuries. The legendary batter had a brilliant track record against India, scoring 3403 runs in 63 matches, including eight tons and 20 half-centuries.

Unlike Miandad, Ashwin has only played in white-ball formats against Pakistan since the two neighboring countries play each other only in the ICC tournaments (since 2013) due to ongoing geopolitical tension between them. He has scalped 13 wickets in 14 matches against Pakistan.

Here’s how the other aforementioned former cricketers performed in international cricket:

Sachin Tendulkar: 34357 runs in 664 matches, including 100 centuries and 164 fifties

Waqar Younis: 789 wickets in 349 games, including 40 fifers

Anil Kumble: 956 wickets in 403 matches, with 45 five-wicket hauls

Saeed Anwar: 12876 runs in 302 games, including 31 tons and 68 half-centuries

Wasim Akram: 916 wickets in 460 games, comprising 36 fifers

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Ravichandran Ashwin nominated for Test Cricketer of the Year Award

Ravichandran Ashwin has been nominated for the Test Cricketer of the Year Award 2023 alongside Australia’s Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, and England’s Joe Root. He has scalped 41 wickets in seven Tests in 2023, also winning the Player of the Series Award in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Ashwin has scalped 490 wickets in 95 Tests, which includes 42 fifers. His last outing was during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa in Centurion, where he ended the game with just one wicket. His next Test outing will be in the five-match red-ball series against England at home, starting on January 25 at Hyderabad.