"He never let us take control" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Steve Smith's captaincy in IND vs AUS Test series

Team India's senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently lavished praise on Australia's Steve Smith for his impressive leadership skills in the final two Tests of the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin emphasized that Smith understands the game of cricket really well. He reckoned that the stand-in captain did a fine job with his field placement and bowling changes, not allowing the Indian batters to play freely.

"Steve Smith led them outstandingly in the third Test match," Ashwin stated. "Amazing creativity. He just gets the game, guys. We know that he is a great batter. But to be a great student of the game, you should just know all the nuances of the game.

"He knows when to do what, and he gets the hang of the game. He led them really well in the last two Tests. Be it with field placements, bowling changes, he was spot on. He never let us take control in the Indore Test."

Having suffered embarrassing losses in the first two Tests, Australia were under immense pressure when Smith took over the captaincy ahead of the third game. He took over the reins in the absence of regular captain Pat Cummins, who flew home due to personal reasons.

Under Smith, the visitors secured a thumping nine-wicket victory in the third Test in Indore. The Aussies were impressive in the fourth and final fixture as well, which ended in a draw in Ahmedabad.

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"In 2012, Swann and Panesar came here, and after that, this spin attack has got to be the most challenging" - Ravichandran Ashwin on Australian spinners

Speaking in the aforementioned video, Ravichandran Ashwin further pointed out how the Australian spinners performed brilliantly in the four-match Test series against India.

He mentioned that Indian head coach Rahul Dravid believes that this Aussie attack was the most challenging one since England's tour of India in 2012, when Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann ran riot with the ball.

"There were many talks from the outside about the pitch, about the Indian team's batting," Ashwin added. "But what we forgot to talk about was Australian bowling. The series is over now.

"Rahul [Dravid] bhai has also spoken about the effectiveness of the Australian spinners. In 2012, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar came here, and after that, this spin attack has got to be the most challenging spin attack. This is Rahul bhai's opinion."

India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the series 2-1. However, the Australian spinners earned praise from all quarters for their inspired spells against India's star-studded batting lineup.