Despite the 3-1 series loss against India with the last Test to be played in Dharamsala from March 7, former England captain Nasser Hussain heaped praise on ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for his five-wicket haul in the second innings of the Ranchi Test.

India won the match by five wickets and took an unassailable lead in the five-match series. Ashwin's fifer enabled the hosts to disrupt England's batting line-up on a spin-friendly and double-paced wicket.

The senior spinner had a mediocre performance in the initial three matches of the series and only managed to bag 11 wickets in six innings before picking six wickets in the fourth Test to set the stage for India's series-clinching win.

Hussain said that Ashwin's recent performance shows that a 'great' player can make a comeback with his stellar performance if given a consistent run. He also cited Joe Root's example of how the experienced batter returned to form after a series of low scores.

People have been saying Ashwin has had a quiet series, but this game has been a reminder that you don't keep a great cricketer down. Root proved as much in England's first innings, and Ashwin underlined the point in their second," Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.

"You could see the fire in his eyes when Rohit gave him the new ball: he was determined to stamp his class on the series," he added.

Further, the former cricketer lauded Indian captain Rohit Sharma for starting bowling with Ashwin in the second innings after introducing him late in the first innings.

Rohit's decision helped India to wrap England for 145 as Ashwin claimed 5/51 while Kuldeep Yadav bagged four wickets.