Ashwin steps up preparation ahead of Tests

[Laaloo]

R Ashwin, who was the most effective of India's bowlers on day two of the tour match against the CA Chairman's XI in Canberra, has said that he has worked on his strategy ahead of the Test series. "You have to spin it; for the few days of a Test, I don't expect the ball to turn," Ashwin told PTI. "It has to be in the air [have flight], and later [in the Test you can] exploit the rough. For the left-handers you attack the stumps and for the right-hander bowl outside the off-stump." "I have been speaking to a few umpires and they say it spins on day four and five. But I have to look at the match as a whole, keep spinning and flighting the ball, and hoping the batsmen would attack me. Later, probably, if I could sit down with Shane Warne and chat with him [it would help]." Ashwin picked up four of the seven wickets the Indians claimed on the second day, while reducing the Chairman's XI to 214 for 7. He said that he had expected the batsmen to be more aggressive against him. "I was very surprised that they were not attacking me. I bowled a few bad balls, I wasn't hit for a six. I am always prepared to be hit for a few sixes anyway." :two_thumbs_up: His victims included centurion Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Tom Cooper and Alex Doolan. He particularly enjoyed Doolan's dismissal, he said. "It [the delivery] didn't have much of spin but it just bounced a bit more. The catch belonged to Ajinkya Rahane I haven't seen such a good catch for a long time." Doolan was caught at forward short leg for a duck. http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2011/content/current/story/546325.html

[cowboysfan]

Its a double edged sword for the aussies regarding Ashwin.the best way to play him is attack him and not let him get cheap overs out of the way but Ashwin will get a lot of his wickets in australia by batsmen being aggressive.

[orasparkle]

Ashwin will do very in Australia. I won't be surprised if he ends up as the highest wicket taker among Indian bowlers.

[Stuge]

I just hope he runs faster between the wickets .

[yoda]

Less talk, more wickets.

[Stuge]

We can't take anything for granted in Australia-Dravid

Rahul Dravid reflects on his recent good run in Tests and the upcoming challenge Team India faces Down Under Just a month shy of his 39th birthday, Rahul Dravid is enjoying the best form of his life. The Karnataka right-hand batsman is the leading scorer in Test cricket this year, with 1067 runs in 11 matches @ 59.27, having hit five centuries and three fifties. During the recently-concluded Test series against the West Indies, he also became the second player, after Sachin Tendulkar, to cross the 13,000-run mark in Tests. He will again be the key man as India look to win their first Test series in Australia. After all, he played a crucial role as India registered a Test victory on each of their last two tours Down Under. Who can forget his sparkling innings of 233 that set up India's four-wicket victory at Adelaide in December 2003? That was India's first Test win in Australia in nearly 22 years. Sourav Ganguly, the captain then, summed up Dravid's contribution in one line: 'Rahul batted like god!' Then came the famous victory at Perth in January 2008. His fluent 93 in the first innings made a major difference as India won by 72 runs. As India look to go a step further and claim their first Test series win in Australia, the former India captain believes that, with the talent at the team's disposal, it is possible. Ahead of his departure for Australia, Dravid spoke with Harish Kotian about his recent good run in Tests and what is needed to do succeed in a tough place like Australia. You are getting better with age. In the last series against the West Indies you became the first batsman to go past 1000 runs in 2011 and also became the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to go past 13000 runs in Test cricket. You must be delighted with your recent good run going into a tough tour like Australia? Obviously, it's nice to go into any series with a bit of form. It is nice to be playing well, and it doesn't necessarily mean you will be scoring runs. I feel I am confident and hope I can prepare well and get into some good form early. If I get good form early and get some runs early in the tour, I am sure I can make it count.

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/slide-show/slide-show-1-australia-tour-india-we-cant-take-anything-for-granted-in-australia/20111221.htm

[Needforspeed]

Unlike the English and the South Africans, Aussies are quite good at playing spin.

[G_B_]

if ashwin does have a good series in aus with plenty of wickets it will be a first for a foreign spinner in a long time.

[jusarrived]

Unlike the English and the South Africans' date=' Aussies are quite good at playing spin.[/quote'] Pls tell me you are joking ? Ozs are the worst players of spin of the top6 teams ...Saffers have some very good players of spin these days , arguably the second best players of spin after india..England ar alright , but way better than Aus . Will be surprised if Ashwin dosen pick a lot of wickets here

[vamos_rafa]

if ashwin does have a good series in aus with plenty of wickets it will be a first for a foreign spinner in a long time.

Kumble did very well in 2003-04 and 2007.

[Ram]

For a frontline, specialist spinner he bowls too many loose balls for my liking. Its no secret that in Australia, the spinner’s primary role (apart from Sydney maybe) is to tie one end up while the pacers search for wickets from the other end and attack when the opportunity presents itself. But I am not sure Ashwin suited for that role. He’s an attacking spinner by nature and in going for his different variations, he accuracy could suffer, resulting in some cheap runs for the opposition. But if he does manage to succeed, it would be a significant achievement as even the great Murali struggled to be incisive in Australia.

[cowboysfan]

For a frontline, specialist spinner he bowls too many loose balls for my liking. Its no secret that in Australia, the spinnerÃÔ primary role (apart from Sydney maybe) is to tie one end up while the pacers search for wickets from the other end and attack when the opportunity presents itself. But I am not sure Ashwin suited for that role. HeÃÔ an attacking spinner by nature and in going for his different variations, he accuracy could suffer, resulting in some cheap runs for the opposition. But if he does manage to succeed, it would be a significant achievement as even the great Murali struggled to be incisive in Australia.

we have to live with not just in Australia but in the sub continent as well,good teams who play spin well will go after him unless the pitch is a dust bowl.

[bulbul]

For a frontline, specialist spinner he bowls too many loose balls for my liking. Its no secret that in Australia, the spinnerÃÔ primary role (apart from Sydney maybe) is to tie one end up while the pacers search for wickets from the other end and attack when the opportunity presents itself. But I am not sure Ashwin suited for that role. HeÃÔ an attacking spinner by nature and in going for his different variations, he accuracy could suffer, resulting in some cheap runs for the opposition. But if he does manage to succeed, it would be a significant achievement as even the great Murali struggled to be incisive in Australia.

But he can atleast put better effort than we all know who :winky:

[Malcolm Merlyn]

I am hoping that he will do well in Australia.

[G_B_]

For a frontline, specialist spinner he bowls too many loose balls for my liking. Its no secret that in Australia, the spinnerÃÔ primary role (apart from Sydney maybe) is to tie one end up while the pacers search for wickets from the other end and attack when the opportunity presents itself. But I am not sure Ashwin suited for that role. HeÃÔ an attacking spinner by nature and in going for his different variations, he accuracy could suffer, resulting in some cheap runs for the opposition. But if he does manage to succeed, it would be a significant achievement as even the great Murali struggled to be incisive in Australia.

its a much weaker aussie batting line up than what Murali faced. Lets keep in mind that the aussies were a dynasty similar to the WIs.

[Old guy]

For a frontline, specialist spinner he bowls too many loose balls for my liking. Its no secret that in Australia, the spinnerÃÔ primary role (apart from Sydney maybe) is to tie one end up while the pacers search for wickets from the other end and attack when the opportunity presents itself. But I am not sure Ashwin suited for that role. HeÃÔ an attacking spinner by nature and in going for his different variations, he accuracy could suffer, resulting in some cheap runs for the opposition. But if he does manage to succeed, it would be a significant achievement as even the great Murali struggled to be incisive in Australia.

well he is there in team to attack and get wickets and dont forget this guy first started as t20 specialist so blocking runs should not be hard for him he flights and attacks cos its team strategy and thats how he gets wickets if they want him to stop runs im sure it would be easy for him and u can defend only for 7-8 overs..on these attacks if u dont get wickets people will milk u away like normally bhajji was lately..

[Ram]

well he is there in team to attack and get wickets and dont forget this guy first started as t20 specialist so blocking runs should not be hard for him he flights and attacks cos its team strategy and thats how he gets wickets if they want him to stop runs im sure it would be easy for him and u can defend only for 7-8 overs..on these attacks if u dont get wickets people will milk u away like normally bhajji was lately..

Contaning runs in test cricket is completely different to restricting run flow in T20 or ODI cricket. In T20 or ODIs, you try to keep the runs down by keeping the batsmen guessing, by forcing them to not settle into a rhythm and pre-mediate what the bowler is going to bowl and you do this by unleashing every single of your variations. Aswhin is very good at that . In tests however, it is a completely different story. You need to the mental discipline have to plug away at the same line and length relentlessly and I am not sure Aswhin can do that. He is naturally attacking bowler and it is only a matter of time before his mind switches from containing mode to wicket taking mode. I still feel Ojha would be a better choice for the lone spinner slot, but given his performance with both bat and ball against the windies, Aswhin is a definite certainty for Melbourne.

[Old guy]

Contaning runs in test cricket is completely different to restricting run flow in T20 or ODI cricket. In T20 or ODIs, you try to keep the runs down by keeping the batsmen guessing, by forcing them to not settle into a rhythm and pre-mediate what the bowler is going to bowl and you do this by unleashing every single of your variations. Aswhin is very good at that . In tests however, it is a completely different story. You need to the mental discipline have to plug away at the same line and length relentlessly and I am not sure Aswhin can do that. He is naturally attacking bowler and it is only a matter of time before his mind switches from containing mode to wicket taking mode. I still feel Ojha would be a better choice for the lone spinner slot, but given his performance with both bat and ball against the windies, Aswhin is a definite certainty for Melbourne.

ok see ojha went for 6 runs per over in first practice match and even in 2nd match compared to ashwin he was not good enough being attacking isnt bad.. and people arem istaken that he cant bowl with discipline he is our best spin bowler..ojha too is not far behind but on these tracks ashwin will get more bounce and his variations will always help him when going gets tough i think he can do better job at holding one end then bhajji did (se hwo he bowled in last tour ) our only concern right now is ishant .. other than him first 4 bowlersl ook good and all can get wickets on there days

[Blue Panther]

Bowled a bit erratic and a bit expensive against wi one day matches. Its good news that he got few wickets in the practice match. Will be lethal if he gets the line and lenght correctly. I am sure he will be a force to reckon with.

[Tarun45]

I have a feeling Aswhin will get slaughtered in the test matches, he just does not seem ready to play test matches against the big boys yet which is the reason why Harbhajan should have been picked over him although i hope Ashwin does proven me wrong