Watch: This is why Dhoni fans are angry with Ashwin
- Ashwin was named ICC Test cricketer of 2016.
- While he thanked Kohli in his speech, he did not credit Dhoni for his success.
- That resulted in angry Dhoni fans attacking Ashwin on Twitter.
FollowAshwin is the only third Indian after Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010) to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016.
Ashwin, who has been the key in India’s five consecutive Test series wins – against Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and England – saw himself dragged into a needless controversy.
“I’d like to dedicate this award to my family. I’d like to thank ICC and most importantly my teammates. I would also like to thank the support staff for our success. We’ve had a great transition ever since MS Dhoni hung up his boots. A young captain has taken over, we fell on the right track, and we now have a new bunch of boys,” Ashwin said in his thank you speech after receiving the ICC honour on Thursday.
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The fact that Ashwin gave only a passing reference to Dhoni and credited current skipper, Virat Kohli, hurt Dhoni fans to a great extent. The fans took to social media to express their anger.
The current best spinner, Ashwin, also thanked a few people on Twitter after winning the esteemed trophy. Again, while he thanked Kohli, Anil Kumble, his wife Prithi Ashwin and India’s fitness trainer, Basu, Ashwin did not make a special mention of Dhoni.
The fierce Dhoni fans replied to the spinner's tweet calling him a traitor, arrogant, cruel and ignorant as they reminded Ashwin what role Dhoni played when the former had just begun his Test career in 2011.
The Chennai cricketer had bagged 109 wickets in the 22 Tests he played under the leadership of Dhoni. Even during his bad patches, Dhoni never lost belief in him, be it in the Indian team or IPL’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Meanwhile, having played 21 Tests under Kohli, Ashwin has already notched up 134 Test wickets and has even recorded his best bowling in a match – 13 wickets.
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However, when India climbed to No. 1 spot last time (2009) under Dhoni, Ashwin was not a part of it. So, considering his individual performance, along with Team India’s reformation into completely new side under Kohli, Ashwin’s thank you speech should not have been questioned.
P.S: We are nobody to question Ashwin in this case; it’s his choice.
Watch Ashwin's thank you speech that created all the ruckus:
