IND vs ENG - Kuldeep’s form a plus for India but Ravi Ashwin has struggled: Dinesh Karthik

Ace India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has struggled to showcasehis magic during the ongoing England series, while his partner Kuldeep Yadav has been a positive for the hosts, cricketer-turned-commentator Dinesh Karthik said. Following day two play in Ranchi, Karthik touched upon this topic, saying England rookies have done far better than the Indian bowling trio.

With two of England's spinners – Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed getting ruled out of the remainder of the series for respective reasons, the visitors had just Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir to pick from. Both werenamed in the playing XI for the Ranchi Test, with Bashir turning heads with hisperformance in the game.

Following the second day's play, Bashir had picked four in the first innings, putting India on the backfoot.

On the other hand, India'sRavi Ashwin failed to trouble England in the first innings, picking just one wicket for 83, while Ravindra Jadeja returned with four.

“The inexperienced England spinners have definitely bowled better than Indian spinners in this Test. Speaking about each spinner, Kuldeep has been a positive for India, Jadeja has not been consistent, but yes, R Ashwin has definitely not had his best series in India. It’s not often that you can go four Test matches in India without an Ashwin fifer or a four-fer,” Karthik said while speaking with Cricbuzz.

Karthik impressed with English spinners

Lauding the young batch of England spinners, with most of them playing their first international series, Karthik said they have shown promise and delivered, helping their team stay alive in this series.

While Tom Hartley remains England’s best bowler with 18 wickets in four games, Rehan was their second-best, picking 11 from three Tests.

“Going from what has happened, you have to say that English spinners have done better than Indian spinners in this series. This is the first time they’re travelling to India. It’s like a completely inexperienced medium or fast-bowling attack going to Australia or England and doing better than their fast-bowlers,” Karthik added.

Meanwhile, India has staged a comeback in this game, much like England in the first innings. India has crossed the 250-run mark, cutting down the deficit.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel completed their fifties in the second innings.