God sent Ashwin to win games for India: Erapalli Prasanna

R Ashwin has been in some kind of form lately. The off-spinner became the fastest bowler to pick up 250 Test wickets, and praise has been pouring in from all quarters. A couple of days after Steve Waugh called him the Bradman of bowling, legendary Indian spinner Erapalli Prasanna has described him as God's gift to Indian cricket. 

"God sent him to win matches for India and he is helped by Jadeja, Jayant Yadav and Mishra. If he can maintain his composure he will surpass everyone very soon. The main thing about Ashwin’s success is his focus. He analyses his performance regularly and this is the way to be a big match performer. He knows his opponents quite well and upgrades his variations regularly," Prasanna told xtratime.

On being asked about how Ashwin should plan against world class batsmen like Steve Smith and David Warner, Prasanna said he himself would want to see how he does against them.

"It will be very interesting. They are among the bests in today’s game. We all want to see that what will be Ashwin’s strategy against them. I believe that he has made a plan already. We all know he is very aggressive. On 2012-13, he took 29 wickets against Australia, but in the last tour against Australia he got only 12 wickets, which was disappointing, so I think he will have an extra attention in the upcoming series," he added.

Talking about Ashwin's major strengths, Prasanna said, "Besides his off-spin deliveries, he uses carom ball which is also his strength. It is really tough to deliver carom balls in matches, but he can do it perfectly. In the upcoming series against Australia, carom ball will be his trump card."

When asked whether or nor not Ashwin was on his way to become one of the all-time greats, Prasanna confidently said that Ashwin will certainly get there as his career progresses, "Definitely. He is slowly moving towards to Everest. He has time, he has many years to come in his career. So I think one day he will match legends like Murali, Warne."

He also feels the presence of  Anil Kumble, a world class spinner himself, as coach has helped Ashwin a lot.

"I think Kumble plays a vital role behind Ashwin’s  recent success. If you have a legend like him, then your best will come out automatically. I am sure that Kumble will surely help Ashwin to improve his stats on overseas and also in the upcoming series against Australia," Prasanna said.