"If Ashwin was English right now, then they would have told him to retire" - Monty Panesar

Former England spinner Monty Panesar believes the England team's management would have asked Ravichandran Ashwin to retire if he had played for them, given his current age. The 42-year-old opined that English cricket would have let go of Ashwin to give a chance to the youngsters.

The 38-year-old Indian spinner is still one of the best going on in the international circuit. Ashwin showcased his all-round brilliance in the recent Test between India and Bangladesh as he struck a century on Day 1 to rescue their side out of trouble. The veteran followed it up with six scalps in the fourth innings to fashion a 280-run win for India.

Speaking to ANI, Panesar observed that English cricket likes to experiment a lot more than other teams, stating:

"They experiment more. If Ashwin was English right now, then they would have told him to retire because they want to bring youngsters who have the potential to play. But I think England experiments more, and they like to experiment."

By snaring six wickets in the India-Bangladesh Test, Ashwin has climbed to eighth position in the list of highest wicket-takers in the format. During the Chennai Test, he went past Courtney Walsh's tally of 519 wickets.

"I see Nathan Lyon in my opinion" - Monty Panesar on the better bowler

With Australia's Nathan Lyon and Ashwin in consistent competition for the 'best spinner' tag , Panesar opined that the former is a better bowler. However, he equally feels Ashwin is a great thinker of the game.

"I think I see Nathan Lyon in my opinion. Yes, he is a better bowler. But I think Ashwin is a better bowler in India. I think he thinks like a batter when he bowls. He is able to pick out the weakness and he can exploit it, and that is his biggest advantage. He bats really well when he bowls; he knows what the batters are thinking," Panesar told ANI.

The two will come face to face during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series later this year.