Ravichandran Ashwin needs to decide if he is an off-spinner or not, feels Dilip Doshi

A bowler whose immaculate flight and control made him one of the most respected left-arm spinners in English county cricket, Dilip Doshi couldn't play a lot of matches for India, simply because of the presence of Bishan Singh Bedi in Indian cricket. When Doshi broke through, he was effective on even the most placid tracks and became Kapil Dev's Man Friday. 

The definitive vantage point that he had, playing for India over the years, has made him believe that Ravichandran Ashwin, who is currently India’s most Test wicket-taker among active Test cricketers, needs to stick to his strength if he wants to call himself an off-spinner.

"Ashwin's records are fabulous in Indian conditions, but he needs to decide if he is an off-spinner or not. If he calls himself an off-spinner, he should keep bowling his stock balls,” Doshi told Times of India.

"I will encourage youngsters to keep tossing the ball and don't get disheartened by punishment. For batsmen, runs are like a supply of oxygen, so just don't give them the easy runs, try and suffocate them."

Doshi, who turned up for Saurashtra during his days in the Ranji Trophy, has also words of praise for Saurashtra talisman Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara, who has often been branded as a slow batsman, found Doshi’s support to even be in the ODI set-up that has long moved away from him.

"It hurts me when people call a high-class batsman such Cheteshwar Pujara as 'too slow.' I will not drop a guy like Pujara from my ODI team. I will ask him to hold one end and keep on batting till the 50th over and I think he is quite capable of it."