A four-wicket haul in his kitty on the opening day itself but Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said there wasn’t “enough turn on offer” at the Chinnaswami Stadium where the South Africans were all out for 214.
Ashwin praised his colleague Ravindra Jadeja’s efforts.
“I don’t think there was enough on offer for the spinners as we were not beating the bat as often as we have done in Mohali. But Jadeja was very, very good in the session after lunch bottling one end up, which precisely was our plan. They played a few false shots. We were conscious at the end that we might go for 50-60 runs in the last 2-3 wickets, but we were pretty aware of what was going to come our way,” Ashwin said at the end of the day’s play.
Both Ashwin and Jadeja now have 12 wickets from three completed innings but the Tamil Nadu bowler ruled out that there is any competition with the Saurashtra left-arm spinner.
“I haven’t given it a thought. I am going about doing my own work. When Jaddu is bowling, I try to share my experiences with him. He knows his strengths and limitations and what really works for him. For a team like us, in the afternoon sessions, he comes in very handy. He is very accurate. In Test cricket, it is important to know what you can get out of a particular cricketer,” explained Ashwin.
By his own admission, Ashwin has become more confident and a testimony to that is the fact that he has not kept a fielder at cover region while bowling as off-spinners are normally wary about batsmen hitting them for cover drive.
SG balls going ‘out of shape’
The red SG Test cricket balls, which are used for international and first-class matches in India, have again come under the scanner after Ashwin openly expressed his preference for the kookaburra balls.
With the ball changed three times, the the quality of the red cherry produced by the Indian manufacturers has come under scrutiny.
“I don’t want to pick on a brand and get into trouble. I think the same ball (SG Test) that I bowled in first-class cricket five-six years ago, is not the same (anymore). There is definitely a change as lot of balls are going out of shape.”