Good to end string of losses, says Ashwin

Before the match Ashwin was seen interacting with former India cricketer L Sivaramakrishnan on the finer points of his trade. “It was good of him to come and tell me that my left hand is very crucial and the moment it falls away I lose my shape. He also told me that when a batsman is attacking, as a leg-spinner you are supposed to toss the ball and that was my thinking when I approached B Aparajith and it worked,” revealed the 27-year-old.

Ashwin added that although his team was out of the reckoning for the playoffs, the players didn’t have any difficulty motivating themselves. “As a professional team, we have to prepare for every game as the same. It does not matter if we have lost five games. I think it’s all about what brand of cricket you play and as a professional how you prepare and execute it.”

While admitting that he was relieved to see his team end its sequence of five defeats, Ashwin rued that it didn’t play to its potential. “It feels good to be on the winning side. As a team we didn’t live up to our potential this season, because the talent and potential in our squad is huge,” added Ashwin.

On his own batting which has been a revelation, Ashwin said he had been timing the ball well and felt in good nick. “I felt in the middle overs we didn’t do so well. We were hoping for 200 but after the middle overs, I thought that 180 would be a good score so, our target was 180. Throughout the tournament I have been timing the ball well and I wanted to utilize the smaller straight boundaries here in Dindigul,” observed Ashwin.

Meanwhile, Ashwin’s team-mate, MK Sivakumar, who chipped in with two wickets, said his side dominated VB Kanchi Veerans in all aspects. “It feels good, we performed well across all three departments and that saw us through. Our bowlers struck at regular intervals not letting their batsmen settle into rhythm,” observed Sivakumar.

Sivakumar chose not to read too much into his team losing the plot in the middle overs while batting. “It happens in cricket. Sometimes players take longer to settle down. But we got to a commanding score in the end.”