JOIN US R Ashwin has been India’s primary weapon in India’s arsenal in the ongoing series against South Africa. With 18 wickets so far in the series, he has been a thorn in South Africa’s flesh.
And Ashwin admitted that the visiting batsmen felt like getting out to him at the sight of him. “Probably, yes, but due credit to them,” he began. “I think (Stiaan) van Zyl has changed his stance about two or three times in the series. He has managed to stand on middle stump, outside leg stump this innings, there was a plan and he has looked to hit me inside out. Every time there is a plan that I see it, evidently in front of me, I try to adjust to it and thankfully, I have been able to adjust so far. I think it is mental. If you keep getting out to a particular bowler, you feel like you are going to nick one ball off him anytime,” he analysed.
While agreeing to the fact that run-scoring wasn’t an easy job, the off-spinner felt the batsmen still could dig in deep with a little bit of planning.
“I think this wicket is actually something where a batsman needs to plan and come out to bat,” he noted. “The area for scoring is pretty limited, and as I am going to bat I am able to figure out what particular areas I can get my runs off and what is of paramount importance. When you put your feet down and defend properly, it is still quite a hard wicket to get through the defences. I think the first four balls that I bowled this morning pretty much swung the game in our direction. It was copybook stuff, it looked like identical balls for me and from then on it was catch-up game for them,” he explained.
Ashwin said he will have to change his plan in the second innings as the pitch is slowing down gradually. “On a pitch like this, the person who can get the ball to go straight on is definitely going to bring both sides of the edge into play,” he pointed out. “That is exactly what my plan was in the first innings. In the second innings, I would definitely like to reverse the plan a little bit because the wicket is getting a little bit slower and we need to try and get the batsmen on the bounce and flight and all that.”