I find myself in a space where I really enjoy my bowling: Ravi Ashwin

Ravi Ashwin is one Test series shy of picking up his third man of the series trophy on the spin. Having impressed with both bat and ball against the West Indies and more recently against New Zealand, the 30-year old will be looking to impress in the upcoming encounter against the visiting Britons.

Speaking ahead of the start of the first match at Rajkot, Ravi Ashwin said that he always found himself in that zone wherein he would enjoy his bowling. He also stressed on the importance of team efforts stating he did not look to win Tests directly for his country.

“I find myself in that zone and in that space where I’m actually enjoying my bowling. In the sense that every spell of my bowling, Im trying to get a batsman out or trying to change, it is not like I want to win the game you know,” Ashwin told India Today in an exclusive interview. “I’m not looking to win the Test directly which has happened in the past. Go into a Test and look to defeat them, which is also a part of the learning curve.

“It’s about trying and building into a spell and trying to take that one wicket, trying to plot and cut a batsman’s run-scoring options. It has been been an absolute delight and I’m actually enjoying the process.”

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Ashwin also went on to heap praise on the team that has delivered much in terms of growth rather than results. “I’ve all along heard legends say how the process is important and not so much the result. I am actually doing that now and enjoying the process which is telling me that I’m doing something right.

“And as far as England is concerned I think it’s going to be a great series. We played on some excellent wickets against New Zealand. It’s going to be very, very important how well they are going to match them spade to spade all through this five-Test series.

Finally, speaking about the challenges posed by their opponents on the day, Ravi Ashwin added, “England are a good team we all saw what they did in Bangladesh so I think it’s going to be a very, very good Test series.”

“You need people to follow the game so you need build-ups like that (laughs). I am going to look forward to this contest between me and Cook and the entire English team.

It’s going to be great as I told you. It’s about trying to figure out what plans they bring to the table more than me planning anything for them because they are going to come in with a purpose and a plan to try and dissect how we play cricket in the sub-continent. And it’s all about waiting to see what they throw at us and try and deflect their plans accordingly.”

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