Ashwin replies to ex-Australian pacer for Twitter jibe

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hit out at Rodney Hogg on Tuesday after the former Australian pacer said his success during the ongoing home series against South Africa is mainly due to spin-friendly wickets.

Ashwin has taken 24 wickets in three Test matches in a series which has attracted a lot of controversy since the spin-friendly wickets have seen batsmen on both sides struggle to negotiate the unpredictable movement and bounce.

The Indian spin-trio of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra have dominated the opposition batsmen, claiming 47 of the 50 South African wickets. Left-arm spinner Jadeja has claimed 16 wickets while leg-spinner Mishra has seven.

Their performance has given India an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. The hosts won the first and third Tests in Mohali and Nagpur respectively, both of which finished within three days.

Even the second Test in Bengaluru saw 12 wickets fall on the opening day before heavy rain forced the match to be abandoned.

Critics from around the cricketing world have slammed the Indian team management's decision to prepare rank turners with Hoggs the latest to jump onto the bandwagon.

"@ICC @ashwinravi99 @BCCI Ashwin have a look in the mirror and ask yourself were the recent wickets a bit too spinner friendly," the 64-year-old had written on social media platform Twitter on Monday.

Ashwin replied to the jibe on Tuesday, asserting that the Australians also owe their success in their own country to favourable home conditions.

"@RMHogg @ICC @BCCI sure,let's just share the same mirror or should I order two??" the Chennai lad wrote on Twitter.

Fellow spinner Mishra also brushed aside the controversy over the nature of the pitches, asserting that the poor technique of the Proteas batsmen is more to blame for their predicament.

"There was a lot of turn in the wickets, but the low scores were more due to lack of technique from the South African batsmen. Many of the dismissals were due to poor judgement of edges resulting from a lack of proper application," Mishra told reporters ahead of the Indian team's practice session here on Tuesday.