Knew it was my game: Ashwin
First Published : 08 Feb 2012, 19:11
Last Modified : 08 Feb 2012, 19:11
Perth, Feb 8: Ravichandran Ashwin contributed with the ball and the bat to help India beat Sri Lanka by four wickets at the WACA. The offspinner claimed three wickets after India were asked to bowl and scored a patient 30 runs in partnership with Ravindra Jadeja to help India seal their first victory of the CB series.
Excerpts from Ashwin’s brief chat with the media after being named Man-of-the-Match for his all-round performance:
On the match
When we started to bowl it was spinning a little bit and it was holding on to the wicket […] I got a few wickets and in the end got the job done.
On his bowling today
I was trying to leave the bowl from a real high point so that I could get the seam to go vertically and it worked. We were just working on it yesterday and thankfully […] it worked today.
On contributing to a victory
The victory is very important and. This game I was pretty desperate to get a win on the board. This gets the stride going forward into this big competition.
On whether he sees himself as an all-rounder, a bowler who bats, or a batsman who bowls
I would rather let myself unfold as the game goes on. I’m batting lower-down the order now […] I would like to concentrate on my offies and take the chance presented to me and like today, if I can put my hand up, it would be great.
On batting with Ravindra Jadeja
I have batted a few times with Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] and it’s not very difficult. We have batted quite a few times in the middle so it was easy.
On what he told himself while batting
I walked in and just felt like it would be my game. I told Jaddu that we had to bat 60 balls here and get the runs on the board. I told him we had to bat the balls and that’s what we looked to do.
