Indian cricket is in safe hands with Ashwin, believes Erapalli Prasanna

Former Indian cricketer and a great spinner himself Erapalli Prasanna has backed Ravichandran Ashwin as the best spinner for India across formats. The statement from him comes as a surprise as the young duo of wrist spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, have bamboozled the world champions with their variations. However, he feels that Ashwin’s contribution should not be ignored and believes Indian cricket is in safe hands with the ace off-spinner at his best.

The 31-year-old has been ‘rested’ according to the selectors from India’s home season filled with limited overs games. However, he has made the best use of the free time by playing County cricket in order to prepare for their tour of England next year. But the Men in Blue has not missed their leading off-spinner at all as the youngsters have stepped up.

Kuldeep and Chahal should stay grounded

In an interview to Sportstar, Prasanna didn’t mince his words while praising the young spinners but also reminded everyone the experience Ashwin brings to the table.

“I think it is a great promise. Before Ashwin came into the side, people were thinking what would happen to the spin department, but he came in wonderfully. That cleared people’s doubts over top class spinners.Now if you see not just Ashwin, others are also taking wickets. That’s a great promise and it again makes it evident that we can still have spin as our trump card. After the Sri Lanka tour, the selectors have been pretty bold in trying out the youngsters—Kuldeep and Chahal—who have done extremely well in the IPL too,” he said off Indian tweakers.

The legendary cricketer rated Ashwin as the best spinner India possess despite him being poor in ODIs. “Look I still believe, Ashwin is the best spinner we have in the team. Let us not forget about him, even though Indian cricket is all about what goes up must come down. I don’t think one should put Ashwin there. He is our best spinner and a great batsman too. He can live up to the occasion. Indian cricket is in safe hands with Ashwin. And now, he can even back the youngsters,” Prasanna added.

The 77-year-old advised Chahal and Kuldeep to stay grounded and keep working on their bowling. “As long as they have head on their shoulders, they can go the distance. Look, cricket is a leveller. When they start failing, millions of people will start bouncing on them. I am sure, with Ashwin coming back into the side, it will help Chahal and Kuldeep a lot. Being a senior, Ashwin will take a lot of responsibility and take the pressure off the two. That will help them perform much better,” he continued.

However, Prasanna was not happy with Axar Patel being the part of the Indian team and mentioned that he doesn’t see him in the squad for the World Cup in 2019. “To be honest, I don’t consider Axar Patel a brilliant spinner. He is just okay. I don’t look at him as a strike bowler or someone who can demolish the opponent side. He can at best keep the opponents under a bit of pressure. He is more like Ravi Shastri. He has moulded himself like Ravi, and people don’t call Ravi a great spinner. So, you got the answer,” one of the best spinners for India signed off.