Ideally comparisons should be made after the careers of the concerned players are over. When it is done when one cricketer is playing and the other has retired it becomes an exercise in futility. Yes it may be good for TRPs and to attract a populist readership but the analyses can never really be fair or complete.
These thoughts come to mind when the current buzz seems to be to compare the achievements of the Anil Kumble – Harbhajan Singh spin duo with the current pairing of Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. From various angles – the home and away factor, the support staff, the pitches, the opposition, the number of victories – those indulging in the exercise come to the conclusion that the Ashwin – Jadeja is the more successful.
Yes, on figures it is difficult to argue with the analysis especially when it is pointed out that India have won 25 off 33 Tests that Ashwin and Jadeja have played together as compared to 21 out of 54 for Kumble and Harbhajan. It would be interesting to see however how the figures turn out after Ashwin and Jadeja have retired and how the analyses will then differ.
It is well known that towards the end of his career the figures against a sportsman falter. With age, the reflexes get slower and the skill sets are not the same. This is true of almost any sportsman. The stats at the end of his career do not compare favorably against the figures in mid-career. Why, for starters one needs only to have a cursory glance at the career figures of Kumble and Harbhajan to be aware of the truism behind that statement. Neither bowler had a five-for in his last ten Tests.
I am only mentioning this as an example since Kumble and Harbhajan are the subject for discussion. As I said, it is true of almost all great players who have had long careers. In this case while pointing out the most successful pairs in terms of victories notched up perhaps one should also not forget either the first great spin trio of Subash Gupte, Vinoo Mankad and Ghulam Ahmed as well as the famed spin quartet of Bishen Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, BS Chandrasekhar and S Venkatraghavan. Perhaps the victories they helped shape were rarer but one can never forget their pioneering efforts in setting up the strong Indian spin tradition. Indian spinners over the years have all been great in their own way and as the saying goes, comparisons are odious.