Two distinguished Indian spinners, Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin, shared their experiences interacting with criticism throughout their careers. Both admitted that hearing criticism was difficult, but over time they realized that this criticism sometimes becomes the main stimulus for further development.
During a conversation on the GeoHotstar show 'Cheeky Singles,' Harbhajan Singh recounted how he often got angry at commentators and broadcasters who criticized him while playing. In some instances, he directly scolded them.
Harbhajan noted: 'When I was playing, I would scold some broadcasters. I told them: what have you achieved in life to chase after me like this? But after retiring, I realized that the people I considered my enemies were actually not saying anything bad about me. They were just doing their job.'
Harbhajan Singh's career, which began in international cricket in 1998, lasted about 18 years. At one time, he was among the most successful off-spinners in the world. His career started in the era of Anil Kumble and ended with Ravichandran Ashwin's dominance in the Indian spin attack. Nevertheless, Harbhajan gained significant fame by taking 711 wickets in international cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin also shared an important moment from his career during the same program. He spoke about an article written by former Indian player and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar after the tour of Australia in 2012.
Ashwin reported that in this article, Manjrekar praised his bowling but simultaneously raised questions about his physical fitness and fielding. After reading the article, he felt intense anger and sadness. He recalled: 'I read the whole article while returning from the tour of Australia. After reading it, I became very angry and it hurt me a lot. At that time, I left this issue without further discussion. I didn't communicate much with Sanjay Manjrekar.'
Following this, Ashwin focused on improving his physical condition over the next few years, and the results were visible on the field. In 2015, Sanjay Manjrekar wrote another article in which he openly praised not only Ashwin's bowling but also the changes in his physical preparation.
Ashwin said that after this, he contacted Manjrekar and sent him a message, stating that the old article had been a turning point in his life. He added that this entire experience changed his perspective on criticism. At the time of writing the article, Ashwin retired from international cricket in December 2024, and after the 2025 IPL season, he also bid farewell to T20 leagues. Harbhajan Singh retired from all formats of cricket in 2021. Currently, both are involved in cricket analysis on their YouTube channels and also commentate matches.
