PTI
Port of Spain, August 23: Ravichandran Aswin rounded off the four-Test series against the West Indies with two centuries and 17 wickets and the India spinner-turned-all-rounder said he had expected a handsome return from the tour.
“Personally I would say that I expected this kind of a series,” said Ashwin. “Not necessarily one where I expected two hundreds but I knew batting contributions would be very important. I had no idea that I would be batting at No. 6 before I got here. But I had worked hard on my batting at home and it paid off,” the Tamil Nadu player added.
Ashwin contributed 235 runs with the bat including two centuries and in his 17 wickets he had two five-wicket hauls – something which got him the man of the series award.
“I need to give West Indies a bit of credit. They got our top order quickly and allowed me the time and opportunity,” the off-spinner joked after the game was called off.
“In this Test I was trying to get a good bowl because personally I enjoy my five-wicket hauls more than my hundreds. I am not just saying for the sake of it. I really do mean it. The one century I would really relish and put it past a five-wicket haul is the one I got in Kolkata. It is about the context of the game rather about getting runs or taking wickets,” he added.
However, the 29-year-old from Chennai did miss out on the chance to get to the quickest 200 Test wickets mark in the series. Australia’s Clarrie Grimmet holds the record reaching the 200-wicket mark in 36 Tests. Ashwin so far has 193 in the same number of Tests.
“To be honest I wasn’t close to it, just on the cusp of it. So I cannot really say how I would have felt about it. But now that’s gone and is under the carpet,” Ashwin informed.
“Even if I didn’t achieve it, I tried and went in the pursuit of excellence. So maybe not 200, let me go for the quickest 300.
“But then it is all about whether your individual gains benefit the country or not. For me a win for India is more important than anything else,” Ashwin shot back.
‘Saha, Ashwin have been our most important gains’
India skipper Virat Kohli said here Monday that the much improved batting performance by the lower-order batsmen, particularly wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, was the biggest gain of the West Indies series, which they won 2-0.
“It’s been a pretty good tour for us. We had come here looking to improve in a few areas and we have done that. For me, the biggest positive is Wriddhiman Saha getting runs in the lower order, plus Ravi Ashwin coming good at No.6,” Kohli told reporters.
“I hope we can keep on improving this aspect of our game because there are positions, which matter a lot in Test cricket. Whenever teams have done consistently well in Test cricket, their lower-order has always contributed. So, those were the areas for us to solidify,” the Indian skipper added.
Talking about the 2-0 result in the series against a side ranked eighth in Tests, the skipper said, “The amount of cricket we played, I think it’s a pretty fair representation. We lost a day of cricket in Jamaica. But let’s give credit to West Indies who showed resilience and played really good cricket on day five there.”
Talking about India’s failure to remain at the top of the ICC Test rankings, Kohli said they do not play for positions. “We should judge ourselves at the end of the season, not by one or two games. Rankings are short-term incentives, really do not matter to us,” asserted the Indian captain.
“I have always stated that winning is more important than rankings. If we maintain a healthy record, rest will automatically follow,” he added.