Rahul Dravid hails Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin as modern day legends

Although India’s rise to the top of the Test rankings has been built on synchronised team effort, two players have stood out with their perseverance. While skipper Virat Kohli has led the team with immense dedication, all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has shone brightly by contributing in both departments of the game.

Consequently, the duo have managed to grab the attention of one of India’s greatest ever Test batsmen. Rahul Dravid has backed them to etch their names among India’s illustrious cricketers of all time.

During the launch of ‘Link Lecture Series’ with Link Group MD John McMurtie in Mumbai, ‘The Wall’ expressed his views on the sport’s evolution and the impact of instant media on a player’s growth.

Dravid believed, “There will be legends from this generation as well. You’ve just got to give it a bit of time.I think someone like a Virat Kohli is already a legend. Ravichandran Ashwin’s performances in the 40-odd Test matches that he has played, I was reading, is better than anyone in the history of the game.”

At a time when cricketers are scrutinised after almost every game, the 43-year old added, “You will produce legends. I think stars are the reflection more on the media today. There’s so much instant media or social media available today.”

Dravid would have seen the early days of both the present day stars which in turn helped acknowledge their growth over the last few years. Interestingly, it was during his final Test series that Kohli announced himself at the Test level. Even as the team’s ageing legends were unable to counter the bouncy Australian pitches, the then 23-year old scored his maiden Test ton in Adelaide.

Having debuted in the preceding series against West Indies at home, Ashwin gave a glimpse into his sound intellect by chipping in with decent all-round performances. From then, he has come a long way as evidenced by their recent exploits.

The Tamil Nadu off-spinner is currently the top ranked bowler as all rounder in Tests and has bagged more Player of the Series awards than any cricketer in Indian history. Since the 2015 series in Sri Lanka which was the turning point for both himself and his team, Ashwin has picked up a whopping 111 wickets from 17 Tests (*as of 2^nd December, 2016) at an astounding average of 18.66 including 12-wicket hauls.

Impressively, he has also scored 740 runs at 33.63 with 7 fifty-plus knocks. During the same time-period, Kohli has been the leading run-scorer among Indian batsmen with 1398 runs from 17 matches at an average of 53.76.

As a result, India have gone undefeated since the Galle Test with 12 victories and four draws from the 16 matches thus far. With still 2 more games remaining in the England series and five more to come in the home season, they could create a national record by extending their streak even further.

At any given time during the early to mid-2000s, India had numerous legends in their side such as Dravid himself, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. While the current team may not have a similar number of stars, their recent achievements are quite admirable as well.