"Hopefully, He Will Not Get Too...": Former England Star's Warning For Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin could be India's third spinner during the World Cup considering the general sluggishness of the pitches, and former England cricketer Monty Panesar cautioned the off-spin maestro to use his abundant variations judiciously to make a bigger impact. Ashwin was included in India's squad in place of injured Axar Patel, and now he might pip pacer Shardul Thakur for a place in the eleven. India will start their campaign in the quadrennial big bash on Sunday against Australia.

"Ashwin is an aggressive bowler. He can change angles, taking the ball away from left-handers and bowling from around the wicket to the right-handers. But hopefully, he will not get too technical with his bowling and over-analyse," Panesar, a left-arm spinner of repute himself, told PTI.

"He needs to keep his game simple because he's got so much variation -- off-spinner, carrom ball, reverse carrom ball. He's just got to know when to use them at the right time," he said.

Panesar, who played 50 Tests and 26 ODIs for England, also has a piece of advice for spinners to make their presence felt in the quadrennial extravaganza.

"You have to be strategic in your lines and lengths. You want the spinners to be bowling to get the batsmen to hit in front of square rather than getting them to play cut or pull. To do that, you've got to give the ball flight.

"But I think in India you have to go full rather than short. You also got to go with a bit of a pace on the ball, that's the first protocol along with being full. It is not like a T20 game where we've got only four overs, here you've got 60 balls, so look to attack," he added.

Panesar, who is now plying his trade for World Giants in the Legends League, said Virat Kohli could be in for a