Ashwin has not got a 10-for in every innings he has bowled: Jonny Bairstow

English wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow has made a very clear statement after the day 3 of the Mohali Test. Speaking at a press conference, he said that all spinners are alike. Despite giving credit to Ravi Ashwin for his bowling, he added that he is just as good as the other spinners. Whether the Englishman meant it or said it as a part of a mind game, remains to be known.

India dominated the proceedings on the day 3 of the Mohali Test. Ravichandran Ashwin proved to be the main thorn for the visitors yet again. He scalped 3 wickets as England struggled at 78/4 by the end of day 3. They still trail by 56 runs. England lost their skipper Alastair Cook early in the second innings.

Interestingly, Cook was dismissed by Ashwin in both the innings. While he was caught behind in the first innings, Cook got a beauty in the second. When asked if Ashwin has been winning mind games over Cook, Jonny Bairstow defended his captain. He mentioned that Cook has scored in excess of 10000 runs in Tests and has a prolific record in Test cricket.

“First of all, Cook’s gone onto to the top-10 of the most runs scored by any Test batsman. So I don’t think there is much problem from his end. He has scored a heck of a lot of runs over a heck of a long period of time against any attack in the world,” quoted Jonny Bairstow.

However, he did give Ashwin a fair due of credit. Jonny Bairstow reckoned that Ashwin never keeps the flight same and has a lot tricks with him. “Look Ashwin is a quality bowler. He is a bowler who has got a lot of tricks and lot of variations. He varies his pace really well, his trajectory is different at all times. So at some point you got to give credit to the bowler as well,” said the English wicket-keeper.

Bairstow was quick to restate that Ashwin is just another bowler for the English team. They rate him equally at par with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav.

“Yeah he (Ashwin) is bowling nicely but it’s not that he has got 10-for in every innings he has played against or things like that so as unit he is just as Yadav. Yadav has got wickets too, Jadeja has got wickets so we treat him as the same way like we do to every other bowler that we come across,” quoted Bairstow.

India’s Ravindra Jadeja played a good hand in the lower order. He hit a brilliant 90 to help India take a lead of 134 runs. He seemed to believe that Ashwin has an upper hand against the England. He cited,  “In Test cricket, a lot depends on the situation. If a team has upper hand, obviously the opposition will struggle. In my opinion, if a team has upper hand, that particular team’s batsman as well as bowlers would look more dangerous.”

Reflecting back to India’s tour to England, Jadeja jokingly said that every English bowler seemed like Muttiah Muralitharan on the tour. It was a subtle dig at Moeen Ali, who had bagged 19 wickets in the 2014 series.

“Hum jab England gaye the tab toh unke spinners bhi aise lag raha tha ki Muralitharan ball daal raha hain. (When we went to England, even their spinners looked like Muralitharan is bowling),” quoted Jadeja.