BAN vs IND: Ravichandran Ashwin should be a candidate for India’s Test captaincy, says Danish Kaneria

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria feels Ravichandran Ashwin is a guile customer and he should be in the reckoning for India’s Test captaincy. Currently, Rohit Sharma is leading the national team in all the three formats of the game.

Meanwhile, Ashwin has all the Test experience under his belt and he has been a consistent performer for the team. The veteran off-spinner is known for smartness on the field but he has hardly led at the International level.

Ashwin was given the captaincy baton by Punjab Kings for two seasons in the Indian Premier League but he could not lead them to the playoff stages and thus he was sacked as a leader.

However, Ashwin is part of the leadership group for the Indian team in the red-ball format.

“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,” said Kaneria on his YouTube Channel.

“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,” Kaneria added.

Meanwhile, the all-rounder played a crucial knock of 42 runs in the second innings of the second Test match against Bangladesh at Dhaka to help his team chase down 145 runs. India had found themselves in a pickle as they were 74-7 at one stage.

Furthermore, Ashwin scalped a total of six wickets in the Test match and thus he was awarded the Player of the Match.

“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,” said Kaneria.

Ashwin had the rub of the green as he was dropped by Mominul Haque at short-leg when he was only on one run and it proved costly for the Tigers.

“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,” Kaneria added.