Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the best spinners in cricket right now, says Virat Kohli

The Proteas also see Ashwin as their main threat

Virat Kohli has hailed off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as a match-winner who is among world’s top three spinners. India’s Test captain hopes that Ashwin will play an important role in the upcoming India-South Africa Test series.

Speaking about Team India’s spinner, the 26-year-old skipper said, “He has been our go-to man in Test cricket for the last two years. He is definitely someone who has taken his game to the next level. The way he bowled in Sri Lanka proved that he is among the top-3 spinners in the world. He certainly believes in himself a lot more now; that he is the match winner, and main bowler for India. As a captain, I am very delighted to have someone like Ashwin in our team.”

This 29-year old Indian spinner suffered a side strain during the ODI match at Kanpur. As a result he could not play the remaining four matches. However, Indian Team Manager Ravi Shastri has confirmed that Kohli’s ‘match-winner’ will be playing the first test against South Africa at Mohali. Shastri said, "Ashwin is bowling magnificently. He is absolutely fine.”

Ashwin played a key role in India’s historic win against Sri Lanka in the last test series. He picked 21 wickets in three matches. This series is significant for captain Kohli as well. This will be his first test series as captain on home ground and after the historic win on Sri Lankan soils, hopes are high.

It is not just the Indian captain who has highly talked about Ravichandran Ashwin. South Africa’s middle-order batsman Faf du Plessis also sees the 29-year-old as the main threat. Du Plessis told BCCI TV, "Ashwin is our main threat, but we will plan really well. The way we play Ashwin in this series will definitely determine the success in this series. He is an outstanding spinner but I feel we played him well (in T20s). Now, it's a case of Test cricket, but with the conditions he will get a little more turn."

After their ODI failure, Team India is looking forward to make a comeback in the Test series that starts from tomorrow. However, South Africa will also try to maintain their record of not losing an away series since 2006.