EAS Prasanna: Ashwin is the most intelligent bowler we have now
Ravichandran Ashwin has been hailed as one of the best bowlers of his generation by peers and former greats alike after the off-spinner became the top-ranked Test bowler with a stunning display in the Test series against the Kiwis that saw him the quickest to reach 220 wickets – in just 39 Tests.
The Tamil Nadu bowler returned career-best match figures of 13 for 140 in the final Test in Indore as the hosts swept the series 3-0 to reclaim the top spot in the ICC Test rankings. Ashwin captured 27 wickets in the series and took his five-wicket haul tally to 21 for his seventh man-of-the-series award.
“He will be a legend when he finishes his career,” Little Master Sunil Gavaskar said. “One of the best, without a doubt,” VVS Laxman has stated after the off-spinner's 10-wicket haul in the first Test at Kanpur.
After the two former greats praised Ashwin during the New Zealand series, spin legend EAS Prasanna went on to describe the 30-year-old as the "most intelligent bowler" in the Indian team.
"Ashwin is the most intelligent bowler that we have now. His home performance will help improve his overseas credentials," Prasanna told NDTV Sports.
"His batting capabilities is a value add, but Ashwin's bowling overseas will be the real test," Prasanna said.
Ashwin has a Test batting average of almost 34 with four hundreds and six fifties, and highly-acclaimed coach Dav Whatmore also hailed Ashwin as an all-rounder and being “extremely valuable” for the team.
“Ashwin – to me – is an extremely valuable player and will invariably do well in conditions outside too,” Whatmore told the Times of India. “I felt he bowled brilliantly in Australia when they toured there in the 2014-15 season, and hasn't looked back since. It's not just about Ashwin's bowling but his batting as well which has been a talking point. He is an asset to this Indian side.”
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