‘Frankly, it made me laugh’ – Ravichandran Ashwin hits back at Michael Vaughan’s remark on India being underachieving side

India’s star cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin hit back at former England skipper Michael Vaughan for calling Team India an underachieving team after they lost the first Test game in Centurion. Notably, Rohit Sharma and Co. suffered a terrible defeat against South Africa in the first Test game, and following that, a plethora of former cricketers and experts have started raising questions.

However, India’s star all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, responded with a fiery response to Vaughan’s statement. The middle-order batter accepted that they had not won a major trophy since 2013, but they were the best visiting sides ever in the history of cricket.

“Michael Vaughan made a statement after the first Test that India is an underachieving team. Yes, we haven’t won ICC trophies for years. We call ourselves the powerhouses of the game. But the Test team has been one of the best travelling teams in the vicinity. We have seen many great results,” Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

The RR bowler says that after Vaughan’s statement, even other cricket experts started questioning them. However, the right-arm spinner affirms to reverse the situation, saying that what if South Africa could bat first in the first Test and Team India bundled them out early?

“After he said that, so many experts from our own country started questioning if India is an underachieving team. Frankly, it made me laugh. Picture yourself. Just reverse the situation. SA batted first in this Test after winning the toss. If SA had batted first after winning the toss in Centurion, wasn’t there a chance they could have gotten all out by 65?” he added further.

Team India haven’t won much in recent times: Michael Vaughan

Meanwhile, the former England captain, Michael Vaughan, called Team India an underachieving side while accepting that Team India has a bunch of talented and skilled people.

“They haven’t won much in recent times. I think they are (an underachieving side). They don’t win anything. When was the last time they won something? With all the talent they have, all the skill-set (they should have achieved more.”