Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria has showered praise on ace India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin and also suggested that he should be one of the candidates for India’s Test captaincy.
Notably, during the recently concluded second Test match between India and Bangladesh, Ashwin once again proved his potential with the bat in a tricky situation and helped India achieve a crucial win in the second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC).
Ashwin scored a valuable 42 runs* off 62 balls when things were slipping away from India’s hands as he shared a match-winning 71-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer.
Kaneria also expressed that Ashwin is a very intelligent and smart cricketer who is constantly thinking about the game when he is on the field and all these qualities makes him an ideal candidate for India’s Test skipper.
“Ravichandran Ashwin should be one of the candidates for India’s Test captaincy. He still has a lot of cricket left in him. He is very smart and intelligent with his batting and bowling. It seems as if he is constantly thinking when he is on the ground,” Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.
Kaneria further hailed Ashwin’s knock and said that the 42 runs were equivalent to a century as he also compared the off-spinner to India’s spin great Anil Kumble.
“India were under a lot of pressure. Ravichandran Ashwin was cool and calm in that situation, playing a great knock to steady the ship for his team. He has saved India on several occasions with his batting contributions.
“The Indian team looked weak when they played without Anil Kumble in the past, and the same goes for Ashwin. His 42-run knock was equal to scoring a century,” he added.
Significantly, Ashwin also had a bit of luck on his side as he was dropped on just one by Mominul Haque. The catch drop turned out to be very costly for Bangladesh as it lost the series 0-2.
“Mominul Haque is a fantastic fielder who has taken some wonderful catches at silly point. However, he dropped Ravichandran Ashwin’s catch, which proved to be very costly for Bangladesh. Dropping a catch at that stage was like gifting the match to India,” he added.