'Staying true to basics has benefitted Ashwin's bowling'

In a series where batsmen have struggled for the most part, Indian spinners have had a major impact in Virat Kohli’s side establishing a 1-0 lead, going into the third and penultimate Test of the duel.

Between the three of them — R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra — they have accounted for 27 of the 30 South African wickets spread over three innings. Ashwin, who has taken 12 wickets so far in the series, was the star performer in India’s 2-1 series triumph in Sri Lanka as well and Kohli credited the off-spinner’s success to basics that he has gotten back to.

“If you see his bowling in the last six months, he has got back to basics,” he stressed. “He has not tried too much with the ball. You hardly see the carom ball, so he is relying on his natural bowling action and his stock ball so to say. He is flighting the ball, he is giving more revs on the ball and he is getting stronger fitness-wise as well which is helping his bowling big time because he is able to put the force behind the ball and get more turn and bounce off pitches where other bowlers find difficult to get it from. Obviously he is using his skill combined with fitness and he is just becoming a better bowler every day,” he analysed.

Kohli said he was delighted to have so much variety at his disposal insofar as spin department was concerned and that he was happy not facing them. “As a captain I am delighted Ashwin is in our team along with Amit Mishra, who brings a lot of variation for us and Ravindra Jadeja, who is very, very consistent,” he noted. “All these three put together if I was playing against them I would find it really difficult to score off, I can assure you that. I am sure it is not pleasant facing all three together and I am glad we have all three in our team.”