Important to bowl at good pace: Ashwin

R Ashwin once again was in his elements. The off-spinner, who is in the middle of a run, not only claimed his fourth five-wicket haul in the last five Tests but also became the fastest to reach 150 Test wickets among Indian bowlers, beating the likes of Anil Kumble and EAS Prasanna by some distance.

The Chennai-born bowler shared his strategy against AB de Villiers (whom he had dismissed in both T20Is), his impressions of the pitch and his tactics at the end of second day’s play. Excerpts:

What was your strategy against AB?

It wasn’t very different. Even in T20s I was attacking him with different line, lengths and speeds as well. I thought I could have had him anytime in the three-over spell that I bowled to him. It was good lines, the ball was coming off nicely. I was in the middle of a very good spell. Very interesting if I could have had him, I thought I had him once (the lbw appeal that didn’t go in his favour).

What is the key to bowl on this wicket?

I think it’s very important to bowl at good pace on this wicket. I have not seen any batsman defending and getting out apart from the one that happened to Vijay, where he thrust forward, defended and got out. It’s very important to use your feet. To bowl it’s all about how it’s coming out of your hand. For me it’s coming out really well. So I don’t think I require much turn from any pitch at this point of time.

Is the pitch better than yesterday?

I think it is better to bat than yesterday. Honestly I think it’s the batting that makes the wicket look what it is. I don’t know if any Indian journalist knows the name of the curator in Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, but we seem to get a hang of Daljit Singh very quickly. None of us goes to South Africa and say the wicket is green. I don’t hear any such statements. But unfortunately here the first day some of my good friends came and said the wicket is a little drier and stuff. We have played way too long in Mohali to know how the wicket works.

Are you surprised by SA batsmen’s shot-making?

I was very surprised with some of the shots which we played in the first innings. But putting that aside, I think (Hashim) Amla’s ball was a very good one. (Dean) Elgar, I have seen him bat, had a wonderful time in watching him on youtube last night. He has done that a lot in Johannesburg. I made it a point to tell him it’s not Johannesburg unfortunately. I saw it coming, I knew he was going to play that shot.