Indian spin great Erapalli Prasanna urges Ashwin to give ball more flight to deceive batsman

Indian spin great Erapalli Prasanna has called Ravichandran Ashwin the world’s best spinner currently but urged the premier off-break bowler to give the ball more air.

In the four-Test series against England, Ashwin picked up a whopping 28 wickets besides scoring 304 runs. “There is no doubt that Ashwin is the best striker bowler we have. He is the best spinner in the world now,” Prasanna told PTI.

The 76-year-old advised Ashwin to flight the ball more often. “Unless and until he makes the batsmen step out and drive it will be a little difficult for him. In the back of his mind he has got a leg break which he thinks is very effective.

“But watching him, the batsmen will easily know that he is going to bowl that delivery. From his action you can easily find out that he is going to bowl that one.”

Prasanna was part of the famous Indian spin quartet of the 70s that also included B S Chandrasekhar, Bishan Singh Bedi and S Venkataraghavan.

The former India cricketer from Bengaluru had words of appreciation for Ravindra Jadeja.

“We also largely need to direct our success to Ravindra Jadeja because he kept one end tight (against England). These two have largely contributed to our series win against England.”

Known for his mastery over flight, Prasanna further said on Jadeja, “Now Jadeja has come to a stage wherein he can read the mind of batsmen and turn out to be a strike bowling match winner.”

Prasanna felt young all-rounder Jayant Yadav’s spin bowling is not cut out for Test cricket.

“If you really ask me Jayant Yadav, I do not think, he will be able to bowl long spells at all. He is a useful batsman for T20 or one-day matches and he can bowl good four overs in these two formats.