1st Test: Jaddu helped me through a phase where I was not focusing enough, says Ashwin

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Veteran off-spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who scored his sixth Test century to help India post 376 in the first innings of the ongoing match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, thanked Ravindra Jadeja for helping him get past a phase during their 199-run stand where he was not able to focus much.

The partnership for the seventh wicket between Ashwin (113) and Jadeja (86) helped India to go from 144/6 to 376 in its first innings. It was also Ashwin’s second Test hundred at his home ground and the fourth ton he made as a number eight batter in the longer format.

“There was a fair bit of communication and camaraderie between both of us when we were playing. There was a stage in the innings when I felt like I was not focusing enough, and Jaddu helped me through that phase.”

“Jaddu’s batting has been quite an inspiration for me over the last few years. The way he’s settled in his game, how he has been able to be consistent and what good game-plans he has – he’s been such an inspiration.”

“He’s always been a great batter and has got triple hundreds in first-class cricket. It’s going to be very hard for me to replicate it, but nevertheless, that’s true sense of how I can try,” said Ashwin in a video posted on bcci.tv. on Saturday.

In seven innings at Chepauk, Ashwin now has two hundreds and a fifty-plus score. He also credited the shorter formats of the game to lead a fightback for the Indian team on day one of the match.

“In a lot of ways, the gamesmanship and batsmanship is very much inspired from the shorter formats of the game. So, when you work on it, you do get the confidence of being able to translate into red-ball cricket.”

“That’s where the experience and maturity will also count for something – you need to know when to throw in all those punches. Glad it came off and we did dig in deep into our experiences and put that partnership together. It was quite crucial and we enjoyed it to the max.”

Ashwin’s wife Prithi and father Ravichandran along with his childhood friends were in attendance when he notched up his century. The off-spinner recalled about the feeling from the century not sinking in, despite seeing visuals of it later.

“My dad was so happy (on the day I got the hundred). He was extremely happy. He said, ‘it’s one of the better knocks of you with the bat’. To me, it didn’t sink in when I walked out – even on seeing video footages, it didn’t sink in. It was a classic case of me staying in the moment and completely being in the zone.”

“There have been a few occasions over the last 101 Test matches that I have found myself in such zones. As a cricketer, I have had said that my bowling interferes with my batting, because bowling is very different to what batting is – I keep going on and being on the borderline of saying these are very two different sports. Sometimes it comes in the way; you do start sequencing six, 12 and 18 balls – while batting is all about just being there.”

“To just stay there and being firmed to the root for that ball, and get that done as an event is very crucial facet. For that, I would thank a lot to the T20 format, because every ball is an event.”

“I have batted quite a lot; put in a lot of work and come to realise that I must keep all of this separate. It is one of those phases in my career, where I am relishing and enjoying it, learnt something new and pushed a little bit of a barrier there. Maybe its too late, but really enjoying it,” he concluded.

–IANS

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