Certain others have acknowledged the likely possibility of Ashwin taking 600+ wickets as well as doing well overseas.
current players are subjected to incredible scrutiny for
failing to turn up not only in a series or even a test but even sessions that live long in memory because they’re so ****ing recent
when they have on paper stats like Rabada in Aus they’re rightly exposed as fraud series
hyperfocus on their tiniest failures
tax for benefitting from bowler friendly pitches
tax for not playing against the great behemoths of 20th century because cricket is the only sport that has evolved backwards
and now they also get **** on in advance because they’ll be **** eventually at a point
while older players
- dont get any black marks for any failures because those only exist as bad stats on paper and hey you can explain them away too
- tend to have nostalgia merchants who only remember their best moments and retain them with time because it takes them back to their favourite cricket moments
- benefit from favourable checklist analysis. have a sketchy record against strong opposition or an absent record in some places? well dont worry, we can always make favourable assumptions for you to say how you would have rolled over everyone because you are O L D and O L D is G O L D
- boost from playing against 20th century behemoths