Mohali: Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have not only mesmerized the fans with their match-winning all round performances in the first Test match against Sri Lanka, but also enchanted them with their magnanimity of sacrificing their overs to give a chance to third spinner Jayant Yadav to have a go at the visiting batsmen.
"In between, we both realised that Jayant (Yadav) hasn't bowled a lot and someone who is going to be the third spinner, Rohit (Sharma) also gave him a few overs. Sometimes it's not that easy being the third spinner in the side and it's important to look after him," Ashwin said in a post-match interaction.
"Jaddu (Jadeja) decided that he would give up his overs and give him a go from the end where there was assistance. And then I gave up. Jaddu was magnanimous enough to give up the ball first," he said.
On Jadeja's batting, Ashwin said he has been batting really good in the last four to five years and has gone a notch higher. However, he ruled that Jadeja is batting a little low in order.
"I think he has really come along the way he has batted in the last four-five years. The number he is batting is a bit low in my opinion. His batting has gone one notch higher. He knows what he is doing and it reflects in the way he is batting," he said.
Apart from bagging six wickets in the match, Ashwin, who went past Kapil Dev's 434 wickets, made a superb 61 in India's first innings. Talking about it, he said he succeeded with his bat as he worked on his batting during the four weeks off he had before the Test match.
"I had four weeks off. I wanted to contribute with the bat, stay positive, take one ball at a time. Sometimes I get ahead of myself with the bat but I have worked on things, looking to take one ball at a time. I usually get ahead of myself with the bat sometimes, and I hope to contribute now," he said.
Replying to a query, Ashwin said one cannot omit Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami from the match as they bowled their hearts out and reversed the ball to help India enforce follow-on upon Sri Lanka.
"I thought the surface was a pretty good one. It was not easy to get batsmen out on the defensive. You can't leave Shami and Jasprit out of things either. They stuck to their guns, sustained pressure, bowled their hearts out and reversed the ball to give the follow-on," he said. (UNI)