After having a silent first three Tests of the India vs England series, Ravichandran Ashwin has returned to form. Having been struggling in the first seven innings of the series, the legendary off-spinner roared back with a magnificent and potentially match-winning 5-wicket haul.
After his success on day three of the Ranchi Test, Ashwin opened up about his struggles and how he has had to rewire himself to bowl well. Talking with JioCinema after the end of the day’s play, the spinner said:
“I had to go back and rewire the way I had to think about the game. I’m someone who comes over the top and comes down on the ball. I like the ball to drop on the pitch. Somehow, when I come to the eastern part of the country, I find that there’s not enough bite out of the surface. The bounce is literally almost near the shin height. So to get a lot of sidespin, I had to hammer into the pitch in my first spell. And later, from the other side, I felt like there was a little bit more purchase with the older ball. So I had to literally rewire, and it was a mental switch I had to make.“
On his success with the new ball today and how getting the brand new cherry for the first time in the India vs England Test series helped him get back to form, Ravichandran Ashwin said:
“I’ve enjoyed bowling with the new ball, and today was one of those days when Rohit (Sharma) just said in the hurdle that both of you (Jadeja and Ashwin) are starting. Who wants to start? I put my hand up and said I’d start over from this side. So, I’m glad. The new ball and I have some sort of attachment. I enjoy bowling with a little bit more speed.”
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