Premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who became India’s second most successful bowler in Test cricket, said getting wickets in the first match against Sri Lanka was not easy and he had to bowl hard for long consecutive hours.
Playing in his 85th match, the 35-year-old Ashwin surpassed the great Kapil Dev’s 434 Test score when he dismissed Charith Aslanka in Sri Lanka’s second innings. India won the Test by an innings and 222 runs.
Kapil’s 434 wickets came in 131 matches. The great Anil Kumble tops the charts with 619 scalps, which he claimed in 132 matches.
“The surface was really good, it was not easy to get the batsmen out when they were defending. “You had to bowl hard for a sustained period of time,” Ashwin said after the match that ended within three days.
“I think Shami and Jasprit built up the pressure from the end where it wasn’t changing much.”
Ashwin lauded Ravindra Jadeja’s match-winning effort, saying the spin all-rounder, who scored an unbeaten 175 in India’s only innings and took nine wickets in the match, has come a long way in his batting.
“I think he has come a really long way in the last four-five years. The numbers he is batting are a little less than I think. His batting has gone up a notch. He knows that. What he is doing and it reflects in the way he bats.”
“In between, we both realized that Jayant has not bowled much and who is going to be the third spinner, Rohit also gave him a few overs. Sometimes being the third spinner in the team is not that easy and it is important to take care of it.
“Jaddu was generous in giving the ball away. Sometimes I get ahead of myself with the bat but I’ve worked on things that want to take one ball at a time.”
Ashwin took six wickets for 96 runs in the match.
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