R Ashwin can reach close to 300 Test wickets by the end of the season, says his mentor

India will be taking on the New Zealand in the first ODI at Dharamsala today. The Indian team will be looking to carry on the momentum from the Test series. However, the team will be missing out on some of their key players. The likes of Mohammad Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested for the ODI series in order to keep them fresh for India's long schedule of Test matches.

Ashwin did really well in the Test series against the Kiwis by picking up 27 wickets which included two ten-wicket hauls and eventually won the Man of the Series. The off-spinner received heaps of praise for his impressive performances in the series.

Ashwin's mentor and former Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner Sunil Subramanian feels that Ashwin is one one of those bowlers who is gifted with wicket-taking luck. While talking to the media on Saturday he said, "Ashwin has got an overdose of the wicket-taking luck." Ashwin is the second fastest bowler to pick up 200 Test wickets. He achieved this feat in 37 Tests.

Subramanian continued his praise on Ashwin by saying that the 30-year old is evolving continuously and his hunger for wickets doesn't seem to stop.

"His achievements are nothing new. Those who follow cricket should not be enamored by the wickets column. There is nothing really new that he doesn't have. He is just evolving as a bowler and it is his intelligence that is coming to the core now," he was quoted as saying in the Deccan Chronicle.

Subramanian also said that Ashwin hasn't entirely been banking on luck. He said, "There will be days when he will bowl a lot better but not have much to show in the wickets column. Some of the bowlers across generations are blessed with the wicket-taking luck. Let me tell you, he is not taking it for granted. He is working at it."

Subramanian went on to say that Ashwin's intelligence and adaptability have set him apart from the rest. He said, "As a process, what I see is his intelligence, how quickly he is able to adapt to different surfaces on different days. You won't succeed all the time and it takes some time to adjust. What is special about Ashwin is that as you visualize the surface, he is able to do it in the match. He is doing quickly, match after match. You give him a different pitch, he will bowl with different speeds."

The 49-year-old Subramanian said, "Ashwin is very intelligent to know what to absorb. He is a sponge who soaks. He never closes his mind on information. The beauty is that he will absorb it like a sponge and use it precisely in the way he can use it best. He has amazing clarity on what should be done."

As for Subramanian, Ashwin will touch the 280-290 Test wicket mark by the end of this season, which means another 70 wickets in the next 10 matches. With England and Australia set to come in the coming months, Ashwin will be looking forward to carry on from where he had left in the New Zealand series.