Former England national cricket team spinner Monty Panesar has launched a brutal criticism at the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) when he spoke about the retirement of star Indian national cricket team all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ravichandran Ashwin recently showed his class in the first Test of the two-match series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

The all-rounder put up an impressive batting performance in the first innings when India was in trouble and scored a fantastic century. He scored 113 runs in 133 balls, with 11 fours and 2 sixes.

He was also excellent with the ball as after going wicketless in the second innings of the match, he dismissed six Bangladesh batsmen in the final innings to record bowling figures of 6/88. His performances also helped him secure the Man of the Match award.

Meanwhile, Monty Panesar, who announced his retirement in February 2021 and represented England in 50 Tests, 26 ODIs and 1 T20I, said that 38-year-old Ravichandran Ashwin would have been told to retire if he was part of the English team despite his consistent performances.

Monty Panesar’s words came across as a direct criticism of the England team management and the cricket board as they forced James Anderson to retire despite the legendary player’s wish to play for the national team for a longer period of time. Speaking to ANI, Panesar said:

“They experiment more. If Ashwin was English right now, they would have told him to retire because they want to bring in young players who have the potential to play. But I think England experiment more and they like to experiment.”

Monty Panesar settles the duel between Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon

Panesar further shared his views on the Ravichandran Ashwin vs Nathan Lyon debate. Comparisons have often been made between the two legends of modern spin bowling, with some labelling Ashwin the better bowler while others label Lyon the better bowler.

Meanwhile, Monty Panesar feels that Nathan Lyon is an overall better player than Ashwin, but the latter is better when it comes to Indian conditions.

“I think Nathan Lyon is a better bowler 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 batsman when he bowls. He is able to identify weaknesses and exploit them, and that is his biggest advantage. He bats very well when he bowls; he knows what the batsmen are thinking,” Panesar told ANI.

Notably, Lyon and Ravichandran Ashwin do not consider themselves fierce competitors and share a great deal of respect and admiration for each other. Both have often been seen praising each other and will be pitted against each other once again when India travel to Australia for the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 series.

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin will again play in the second Test against Bangladesh Tigers. The second and final Test of India’s tour of Bangladesh 2024 is scheduled to begin on September 27 at Green Park in Kanpur.