He did not play the first practice game against West Indies President’s XI but watching from the sidelines, R. Ashwin realized that to be successful in the Caribbean where wickets are now keeping low, he will need to bowl “boring” lengths all day. Speaking to BCCI.TV on the eve of the second practice at Warner Park in St Kitts, the ace off spinner said, “From whatever I saw in the last game, the wicket was pretty slow and it looks like it is going to be slow. So it will be a bit of a challenge. I am sure, I will have to be prepared for the long haul and try and be as boring as possible in terms of trying to plug away all day long. Once the results come, they will come faster. That is what I observed from the last game.” In the second practice game, which will be a three-day affair, India will play with 13 players (11 on field) unlike in the previous game where 12 members played. Ashwin said that the bowling group will have to work hard as the opposition batsmen were equipped to bat on slow wickets. “The opposition side in the last game gave me an idea that they are used to the conditions. (Rajendra) Chandrika, who opened, gave me a glimpse how they are going to go about. Over the last year or two, they have played well in the first innings. So that is going to be a challenge for us to be try and be boring and go hard at them and knock them over early and be as disciplined as possible. First innings is going to be important and follow into the Test match.” He cited the example of leg spinner Amit Mishra, who first ended the 122-run stand for the second wickets and went on to pick wickets regularly on the second day in the first practice tie. “The other day you saw Mishy bhai [Amit Mishra] bowl for 15-16 overs without any wickets and once he got a breakthrough, he started breaking through at regular intervals. So that's what we have to look for, especially in the starting days - the first couple of days or even three days of the Test match - there's not going to be a lot in it for the spinners. “There might be a little bit of bounce and little bit of slowness in the wicket that we can exploit. But it's got to be pretty boring line and lengths, keep teasing away with your flight. So we're pretty much ready for it and everybody has prepared pretty well. We'll see how well we can use the practice match coming up,”he said. Ashwin, who finished last year as the top ranked bowler and is currently No. 2, enjoys being the leader of the pack. “I think whatever it is, being the leader of the pack is something that I take pride in. There are a lot of challenges that come with it and a lot of advantages that come with it. You know you are always confident. You know you are the one who is going to go ahead and try do the job for the team. The team is going to look forward to you to try and deliver the breakthroughs and get the vital wickets required. The challenge that comes with it is pressure. As I have always mentioned and maintained that pressure is something I play for, and it is one thing that keeps you going and I enjoy it.” The 29-year-old added that Head Coach Anil Kumble has brought in his trademark intensity into the dressing room. “There is a saying that when you get too close to celebrities, you get disappointed. It is something that some people have told me and I have also personally gone into it. But with respect to Anil bhai, whatever I thought and whatever I measured form a distance has come true. It is the same man, same kind of dripline, intensity. Everything has been fabulous. He has brought in a lot of energy. He has brought in meticulousness among the group. There is a lot of planning when he is around. He has brought in very good dripline in the nets where batsmen get out of the nets at a perfect time for a start. It has not been going around for some. These are nice things that I expected Anil bhai would bring in and that is exactly what he has done.” He has two centuries and six-half centuries and Ashwin mentioned that he is working hard in the nets to strengthen his batting skills. “I have set some goals with the coaching staff personally as to what I want to achieve, not in terms of just numbers, but in terms of how solid and correct I can become. The first phase is to not obviously give your wicket away and then you can obviously accelerate. Sanjay bhai has been working day in day out with me and at last, he seems to be happy.”