Press Trust of India
Mirpur, Feb 29: Ravichandran Ashwin has no complaints with the seaming track of the Sher-e-Bangla stadium, which has little on offer for the spinners. He stated that he believes in adapting to different conditions rather than whining about it.
“It is very important to know what conditions are thrown at you. You can’t try and beat the conditions. It is very important to realise that it will not spin a lot on these surfaces. That’s why it is even more imperative that we try to bowl in good lengths rather than looking to go for wickets,” Ashwin said here Monday while talking to reporters on the eve of the India-Sri Lanka round robin game here Tuesday.
“In T2s, it is the pressure that gives you wickets rather than exact skill of the ball or bowler. That’s what I look to do and when there is any window to attack I will attack irrespective of the wicket,” the Tamil Nadu spinner added.
For him, it is the home team’s choice to prepare a pitch. “It’s their (Bangladesh) choice as to what kind of wickets they want. We came thinking that the wickets will be slow but international teams need to adapt to whatever surfaces are thrown at them. Hopefully it has given us a dress rehearsal of how to bat lower down the order,” stated Ashwin.
Ashwin informed that Virat Kohli’s batting against Mohammad Aamir in the game against Pakistan was one of ‘guts and courage’ that gave the dressing room a lot
of relief.
“We needed someone to stick his head out as Aamir was going through a really good spell. We needed someone to show intent. Virat showed it. It was a gem of an innings,” stated the offie. “It gave the dressing room a lot of comfort. Virat showed great courage and conviction.”
Ashwin also agreed that emergence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra’s form has helped the spinners a lot. “On a lighter note, I can only help myself (laughs). But seriously, it’s nice if we can punch as a group. Ashish is experienced and had a very good IPL. He can swing the ball upfront and bowl at death. Bumrah has a unique action, bowls lethal yorkers and it gives us huge confidence to go about in the middle overs with a lot of attacking instinct,” he pointed out.
Ashwin said that neither Sri Lanka nor UAE can be taken lightly. “There is a familiarity since only 10 teams play international cricket and once you have played couple of years, you are familiar with each opposition. Sri Lanka are a good side, they can rattle any opposition,” stated Ashwin.
