R. Ashwin, who had a five-wicket haul on the second day of the third Test, put up a stout defence of the spin-friendly wickets the Freedom Series has seen so far.
“What’s the problem with spin and bounce?” he asked. “It’s good, even spin and bounce, isn’t it? It is about skill for batsmen to play it and counter it.”
“It’s just getting out of hand. I don’t see a reason why it is being talked about so much.”
“There are enough good cricketers on both sides we can talk about. I think, to a great deal it is our team versus the South African team.”
Ashwin touched upon the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge which ended in less than three days. “Swing, seam and bounce! Two and half days, and match over at Trent Bridge, I don’t know what’s that about!”
“I didn’t complain when I played in Johannesburg. I was dropped for a year, and I will not complain here either. I see no reason why I have to complain.”
When asked if the South African cricketers have had to make adjustments, he said: “Probably, yes.”
“I think (Stiaan) van Zyl has changed his stance about two or three times in the series. He has managed to stand on middle stump, outside leg stump this innings, and there was a plan; he has looked to hit me inside out.
“Every time I see a plan (to deal with me), I try to adjust to it, and thankfully enough I have been able to adjust so far.
“Yes, I think it is mental. If you keep getting out to a particular bowler, you feel like you are going to nick one ball anytime.”
Ashwin agreed that it was a demanding wicket to bat on. “I think this is wicket for which the batsman actually needs to plan. The area for scoring is pretty limited,” he said.
“When you put your feet down and defend properly it is still quite a hard wicket to get through the defence.”
On his own performance, Ashwin said: “The first four balls that I bowled this morning, I think that pretty much swung the game in our direction.”
“In the second innings, I would definitely like to reverse the plan a little bit. The wicket is getting a little bit slower, and we need to try and get the batsmen on the bounce and flight and all that. We’ve got to be very patient.”