'I have learnt my lessons from ODIs'

JOHANNESBURG: R Ashwin has been India's No. 1 spinner in all forms of the game for a while. He has been successful in T20 cricket in South Africa before but the offie found out the hard way during the ODIs that franchise cricket and international cricket are different ball games.

Just one wicket for 169 runs at an economy rate of 6.03 from three games aren't exactly flattering figures, but the Chennai man feels he has fulfilled expectations.

"If you look at the third game, I was specifically bowling with the Test matches in mind. I was giving the ball a lot more air, trying to get wickets. I have learnt my lessons from the ODIs and looking to implement them in Tests," Ashwin said.

It's true that he could have had the wicket of Quinton de Kock if Virat Kohli hadn't put down a difficult chance, but he couldn't extract the spin that was needed to put the batsmen under pressure consistently. There was also the occasional bad ball and the South Africans took full toll of it.

The spinner, who became the fastest Indian to reach 100 wickets in Tests last month, spoke about his preparations for the Tests.

"Subtleties in the air are going to play a crucial role for a spinner. I have also been talking to people like Ravi Shastri, who have played here before, to get a fair idea on how to bowl on these tracks," Ashwin said.

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Shweta Pandey

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