Former England batter and commentator Kevin Pietersen believes that the Indian off-spinner R Ashwin wasn't performing at his best during the recent second Test against England in Visakhapatnam as he was too focused on reaching his personal milestone.

Ashwin, who was just four wickets away from achieving 500 Test wickets, managed to take three wickets in the second innings, but the senior spinner had gone wicketless in the first innings during Team India’s 106-run win in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Well, Pietersen said that Ashwin could have been more effective if he hadn't been under pressure to reach his landmark in Visakhapatnam. Notably, Ashwin made an impact in the second innings by taking crucial wickets from Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root.

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Kevin Pietersen was quoted as saying by Jio Cinema: “Ashwin was just chasing milestone. That's why he didn't bowl as well as he could have bowled. He did get it right on occasion. I thought he was way more threatening bowling wider outside off-stump round the wicket.”

The commentator continued, “I think he bowled over the wicket way too much to the right-handers. He can change bowling over-bowling around-bowling over more. I'm certainly never going to say that he hasn't got it or the England bowlers have found him out.”

However, Ashwin will have to wait for his significant milestone of the 500th wicket as England’s Tom Hartley was saved by the Decision Review System (DRS) in Visakhapatnam.

Pietersen signed off by saying, “He is a tremendous bowler and he's got some big breakthroughs. It is about the team; it's not about the individual. He will want one more wicket and when he gets that maybe you'll see him a lot more relaxed, the shoulder drops and I can just now get on with the game.”

(With PTI Inputs)