'My plan was to lure Australia batters to play drive shots': Ravichandran Ashwin

Indias premier offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Saturday said his plan of luring Australia batters to play driveshots and induce mistakes from them on a slow Nagpur track worked well as the home side won the first Test by an innings and 132 runs hereAshwin was Indias highest wickettaker with figure of 8 for 79 with a fivefor in Australias second innings on the third day on SaturdayThe wicket was very slow I have been saying this all through the Test Not one of those pitches where you might get the gloves ripping off at short leg or silly point You need to get the batsman driving on this wicket Ashwin said after the matchSo I thought giving them Australia batters one of two balls to drive induce them into shots and probably induce the other half of the bat as wellAlso Read Ravichandran Ashwin spins India into ascendancy over Australia on Day 3The senior player talked highly about the spinners of the home team as they can also bat well as shown by man of the match Ravindra Jadeja and Axar PatelJadeja also scored 70 crucial runs in Indias first innings total of 400 besides taking seven wickets for 81 runs while Axar contributed 84 with the bat to become the second highest scorer for India in the match after captain Rohit Sharma 120To say that I got massive help from Jadu will be an understatement He has been in phenomenal form In the last three years the way he has batted and bowled we dont need to talk how well he moves on the field and how much addition he has been to the team he has just been a fantastic cricketerI am so thankful that I got a bowling partner like him Axar is also no ordinary bowler either so we have a very good set of spinners and we all can also bat said AshwinAsked about the dominant win against a top side lie Australia he said I will credit our batting unit they kept them Australian team long on the field It was going to be difficult for them to come out of bat The early wickets set the ton for us todayIn Indias first innings Ashwin came out ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara as night watchman after opener KL Rahuls dismissal on the first day on Thursday He went on to score 23 runsAsked if he volunteered to come out at number three Ashwin said It has been going on for a while I really struggle to cope sitting inside and watching the guys bat in the middle Sometimes it is too nervous for me these daysI have been asking for an opportunity to go out and bat early on There was an opportunity in this Test It presented itself My friend Pujara just let me go as a night watchman with 20 minutes to go on the first day and I gladly took the opportunityI really look forward to go out and bat I just feel that I am getting into good position If and when I get an opportunity I am always ready And knowing Puji Pujara I think it is going to happen in futureDespite the thrashing at the hands of India Ashwin said Australia would look to bounce back in the series in the remaining matchesI think they Australia will introspect and come out with different plans in next game I have experimented a lot over the years but I have also learnt to stay at the moment and stay then and there is also importantYou just keep trying and plan So I expect Australia to come back hard and strong They are a world class side we all know thatThe second Test of the fourmatch series begins in Delhi on February 17This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever