Ashwin is an excellent All-Rounder Spinner: Saqlain Mushtaq

Ravichandran-Ashwin-India

Former Pakistan off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq believes Ravichandran Ashwin is a complete bowler who can do well in all three formats.

Ashwin who has taken 92 wickets in 16 Tests and 76 in 54 ODIs is currently playing in the tri-series that features India, Sri Lanka and West Indies. His performance in the Champions Trophy in particular, impressed Mushtaq.

Talking to pakpassion.net, Mushtaq said, “Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Sunil Narine were the three spinners who really impressed me during the Champions Trophy. Ashwin, in my opinion, is an excellent all-round spinner who performs well in Test cricket too, not just the shorter formats.

“Jadeja and Narine, however are yet to master bowling in Test cricket, which requires the utilisation of a very different set of skills which they are yet to demonstrate.”

Apart from the orthodox off break, Ashwin has an armoury that features the carrom ball and a delivery stride in which he pauses just before releasing the ball. Mushtaq believes that as long as the pause in the delivery stride is working for Ashwin and as long as it remains legal, he should continue to bowl it.

“It's currently within the rules of the game. Whether this is changed in future is of course up to the ICC [International Cricket Council]. I'd encourage spinners to innovate at every opportunity and if the pause delivery is working and confusing the batsmen, then keep on bowling it as part of your armoury.

“Bowlers don't always get the rub of the green when it comes to rules in cricket, but the pause delivery is one that they can use to confuse some batsmen,” Mushtaq said.

Mushtaq took 208 wickets in his 49 Tests for Pakistan, however, his limited overs record was what made him a formidable off spinner. His 288 wickets in 169 ODIs came at an average of 21.78 and in the process he became the fastest bowler to get to 100 ODI wickets.

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