We are running out of words to describe Ashwin: Virat Kohli

Ravichandran Ashwin ran through the England line-up in the first hour of the 5th morning as Team India bossed their way to an innings victory. They started the day with Jonny Bairstow batting unbeaten on 50 and Jos Buttler joined him afresh today. Most people expected some resistance from England and after James Anderson said they will not try and save the Test match rather play with intent to score the runs it definitely showed a positive mindset.

But the way Ashwin is bowling at the moment they hardly had any chance on a wicket that had so much turn and bounce. He struck first dismissing Bairstow, bowled Chris Woakes for a duck and without much fuss had Adil Rashid and James Anderson caught and on their way back as well. The offie finished the innings with 6 wickets and 12 in the game.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli who scored a brilliant 237 in the first inning was quite obviously named the Man of the match. “It’s a very special feeling. The way the crowd came out here and supported it helped us push through the tough moments. The 231-run lead deflated the opposition, we saw their body language and knew the game was wrapped up when we had that lead. We haven’t played on Indian wickets with too much bounce so the adjustment was very important.

Being a team man he credited the entire team for this victory that will definitely have a lasting impact on teams that come to India. It was a track that offered assistance to the spinners but India still managed to score over 600 runs and when the Indian spinners turned up to bowl, the visitors didn’t have an idea of where they were going. “Credit to everyone. Vijay played a champion knock and it speaks volumes of his character. For Jayant, too, it couldn’t have been any better. I was pretty focused on this game. A chance to seal the series. The plan was to get stuck in, I got away quickly. I was nervous before this game. We had a bit of a collapse so buckled down again.” Virat said.

“I kept the targets realistic, level the scores first then thought about the lead. An hour or two can change the complexion of the game. It’s about the belief you have. I’m very grateful that it came off for us. This series win is probably the sweetest we’ve had in recent times. We are running out of words to describe Ashwin. The impact he has had on this team. The batsmen have played second fiddle to his performances. Any team would love to have him. It’s very difficult to get past him.” The Indian skipper concluded saying.

Indian coach Anil Kumble was pleased with the effort of his boys and said: “This is very special, we have lost three tosses. The 200-run stand between Jayant and Virat was exceptional. Ashwin has bowled beautifully throughout the series. He’s never happy or satisfied, that’s the best part about him. You can’t really compare different teams, but this is the No. 1 side in the world. They are exception in their intensity and awareness. Everyone has contributed. This team is certainly special.”

England captain Alastair Cook wouldn’t have asked more from his batsmen who scored 400 in the first innings but their spinners were not potent enough to trouble the hosts and they were definitely one spinner short. “I thought 400 was a pretty good score on that wicket. Keaton played really well, at 230 for 2 maybe should have got 450. Historically, 400 is a good score on this ground.”

He admitted that they couldn’t capitalize on the chances that came their way and that hurt them the host. “In the second innings we had our chances. We aren’t taking those chances at the moment. Virat played an extraordinary innings but we had a chance on 60-odd to get him. Those are things that the game changes on.”

England definitely had their moments especially when they were batting in the first inning but couldn’t carry that and build enough to win the game. Cook admitted saying, “We are in it for three days but not good enough to stay in it. We haven’t been good enough to match India. We wanted to see what four seamers would look like because on the tour they have given us control and our two best spinners have been Mo and Rash. When you batted first you didn’t need that extra seamer, so that was a mistake. We had a chance to restrict the lead. We would have been in the game. But that isn’t really good enough.”

“To me, we batted better in this game than the previous two. I go back to the chances we missed, we could have bowled India out for 400. Virat is in incredible form, having one of the series you dream of. Clearly one of the great batsmen of our generation. Certainly it’s very hard to bowl to him in these kind of conditions when he’s in this form,” Cook said.