Kevin Pietersen offers advice to England batters on facing R Ashwin and Co in India: 'If your feet are good...'

After demolishing Afghanistan in the T20I series, the Indian cricket team will now have to shift their focus to Test cricket. In their next assignment, Team India will be up against England in a five-match Test series scheduled to start on January 25. The last time England had clinched a Test series victory in India it was Kevin Pietersen who produced a sublime performance back in 2012. The former England captain had pulled off a remarkable knock of 186 in the second Test in Mumbai back then. The English cricket team had gone on to win that Test series 2-1. Now, ahead of England’s Test series against India, Pietersen has recalled how he dealt with Indian spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin back then. In an interview to former England cricketer Michael Atherton for The Times, Pietersen also offered a word advice to Ben Stokes and his men. “I picked Ashwin’s ‘doosra’. He used to load the ball at the back of his run-up, and I think he still does that now. He never ran up with the ball in his hand as an off-spinner and changed it late for the doosra; you can’t do that. He loaded it up early,” Pietersen said. “If your feet are good, and you are not planting your front foot and you are playing down the line of the ball, you should be fine. Just make sure you are not getting bowled or lbw. If you nick it to slip, no problem at all. If you get bowled or lbw that’s a big issue. You have so much time to wait for the ball and then judge length or line and then move,” he added. The opening Test match between India and England is scheduled to take place in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium from 25 January. The Test series will come to an end with the fifth and final fixture being played in Dharamsala. The last Test series played between these two sides had ended 2-2. Despite taking a lead in that series, India had to concede a defeat in the final fixture.