Ravichandran Ashwin has made a big statement and named recently retired Murali Vijay as India's greated test opener after Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag.

vaskar is widely regarded as one of the greatest openers in the history of the sport, while Sehwag revolutionized the way cricket is played with his daring and aggresive style.

While many may argue that Gautam Gambhir deserves the honor, Ashwin has chosen his former Tamil Nadu and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teammate Murli Vijay. Ashwin had nothing but praise for both Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, highlighting their immense contributions to the team.

"M Vijay, according to me the greatest opener for India outside of Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag, and Puji are quite similar in that they haven't been celebrated enough.

They also had some of the most hilarious arguments. They used to do the most difficult job in Test cricket - play out the new ball in testing conditions, as we tend to need to do whenever we go abroad - so it is par for the course to have a few eccentricities emerge from that kind of partnership," wrote Ashwin in his column for Espncricinfo.

Although Sachin Tendulkar is often considered as India's greatest test cricketer the master blaster hasn't opened much in tests and was rather confined to the fourth position to provide stability to the middle order.

Ashwin further hailed Cheteshwar Pujara, who is set to play his 100th Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi against Australia.

Ashwin lauded Pujara's tenacity, noting that he is a formidable opponent who is impossible to outwit. He also expressed his admiration for Pujara's stubborn character, claiming that he takes pleasure in the challenge it presents.

"During all these years of knowing him (Pujara), I have learnt that his game is just an extension of his personality. And his personality is stubborn. You just can't win an argument with him. He never concedes a point. I enjoy seeing his stubborn side, so I try to lead him into arguments while others around say, "Ash, you know you are not going to win," Ashwin added.

Tags :Ravichandran AshwinMurali VijaySunil GavaskarVirender Sehwag