Ashwin is making a case for opening with his batting, says Sunil Gavaskar

Ravichandran Ashwin has proved once again why he is the best all-rounder in world cricket right now by bagging 15 wickets while also scoring 239 runs in the ongoing Test series against England. The all-rounder once again put India on top by the end of the third day of the third Test at Mohali by removing England's three top-order batsmen while giving away just 19 runs. 

Sunil Gavaskar, who has been a long-time admirer of Ashwin's talents, lavished praise on the Tamil Nadu all-rounder.

"He is making a case of opening the batting for India. The way he has been batting in the last six to eight months, I must say that India has got a reliable all-rounder and that is a huge plus," Gavaskar told NDTV on Monday.

"Ravi Ashwin has one of the finest cricketing brains in the game. Under Ashwin's guidance Ravindra Jadeja also showed exemplary patience and went on to score big," he further added.

The former Indian captain also felt that Ravindra Jadeja deserved to get a hundred after the left-hander scored 90 runs to take India to a strong 1st innings total of 417 runs.

"Ravindra Jadeja deserved a Test hundred and he was very close to it," he said.

"As far as Jayant is concerned, he looks to me a fine player. He got the opportunity and grabbed it with both the hands," Gavaskar added.

The Little Master is of the opinion that domestic cricket played a key role in Jayant Yadav's assured performances in the series after the 26-year old bagged 7 wickets and scored crucial runs with the bat.

"Jayant Yadav looks as if he belongs there. He has been playing domestic cricket for 4-5 years and came into the Indian side by performing well there. You have got to start doing well in the domestic cricket first to expect the India call," he concluded.