At a time when the batsmen and fast bowlers have hogged the limelight in India’s victories this World Cup, there has been one bowler in that line-up who has gone about making his craft talk rather silently. It was a miserly spell against Pakistan that had three maidens to go with which pegged the run-flow. It was Ashwin’s dexterity against the Proteas that got him three wickets and ultimately get the results in his team’s favour at the MCG. At Perth, against UAE, things weren’t different. Different opposition, different venue but the same bowler and same result. Ashwin used the bounce on offer at the WACA to his advantage and ended up with his career-best figures in ODIs with a four-wicket haul. Only three spinners have had a four wicket haul or more at the WACA, two of them now belong to India. Ravi Shastri had figures of 5 for 15 back in 1991 and Ashwin on Saturday came close to bettering it with yet another display of disciplined spin bowling. After three masterful bowling performances by the spinner, we tried to find out the reasons behind Ashwin’s good ‘spell’ in a bcci.tv exclusive. How satisfying is it to get your career best ODI figures and that too in a place like Perth? I am very happy it came at Perth because my last man of the match performance in Australia was also at Perth. But honestly speaking it is not about numbers for me. It is about the way the ball is coming out of my hand and how well I am bowling which is what matters to me at this point of time. Even my preparation towards my game has changed a lot. There is much more confidence in my skill to go out and say, ‘Okay, this is what I have got and it is up to the batsmen to put the bat on the ball.’ That is how confident I am at this point of time. What specifics are you talking about when you say your preparations towards the game have changed? It is my wrist position, the way the ball is coming out of my hand and how much of revolutions I am getting on my deliveries. I am someone who always puts a lot of revolutions on the ball but at the same time it is also about how well I am finishing and how strong I am at the crease. There has been a lot of work that has gone into it and my trainer has been really helpful when it comes to trying to stabilise my core. These are things that go into the bowling and these are the 1% that will actually turn the tide in your favour. The moment the ball is coming out well from your hand there is not much you can ask for. What was the key to bowling on this wicket? The deliveries were hitting the sticker of the bat, especially from my height. From then on I was just looking to vary my pace. If I can put the batsman in doubt of the outside half, then I can actually bring the inside half into play and that is what happened. I got one in the inside half and then I started to bowl it slow and vary my pace. The breeze and subtleties of pace is what did the trick. Is it a misconception that spinners cannot be lethal at the WACA? Cricket is a game of conditions and it is warranted by conditions. You cannot really say that conditions don’t matter. I would be bluffing if I said that conditions do not matter. Conditions do matter in this game but what can really work for you is to try and turn things that are to your advantage. My biggest advantage is bounce and Perth pretty much gives you that bounce. It is about how much I can vary that pace. If you get a few wickets, you are going to be on top but apart from that conditions are something that you can’t really face your head against. Ravi Shastri has a fifer at this ground. Did he give you a few pointers on how to bowl on this wicket? Ravi Shastri was saying that it is sometimes an overgeneralization when people come into Perth and say we will have to play four fast bowlers. He told us that Perth is not that kind of a place and anybody who bowls well and if it is coming out of your hand well, can end up picking up wickets. He is a very positive person and that helps in the dressing room. What kind of mentality do you go in with when you know that the wicket you are going to bowl at is not spinner friendly? Most of the international wickets are not really helpful to the bowlers to be honest but that is how the game is. You are always faced up against the conditions and the batsmen but you cannot complain about it. It is about how you take it forward and how you can change the pace, subtly vary your speeds and variations. How have the new field restrictions of having only four men outside the circle changed things for spinners? I believe for a fast bowler or a spinner everything is at the crease. As long as things are taken care of at the crease, the rest is just the result. Once that happens it is all about playing with the fields. Yes, there are limitations with which you have to bowl in this format with five fielders inside the circle but like conditions, these are also limitations that you have to live with. You can’t complain about it and I am not someone who will complain. How much of a learning curve has this long tour been for you as a bowler? I have realised that a lot of things is in the air and how much of pace you can vary especially in the shorter format of the game. If you can vary the pace and really put the batsmen on the guessing hook then you are always one-up on the batsman. It is very important how well you start your spell. The work I am putting in is a combination of a lot of people. The team management has fed in a lot of positivity into the work ethics and the game. There are some improvements I have made over the course of this tour. I had a good break after the Test series and I was practicing and taking a bit of time off. For me, my mental state is very important and when I am in the right mental state I believe things will start flowing. It all started against Australia in the practice game in Adelaide where I thought I bowled exceptionally well. We have certain plans on how to go about in this tournament and I thought it succeeded against Australia. Not exactly in terms of numbers but it started taking off from there. Is it really a necessity to be different every ball or every over? (Laughs) People genuinely think that I try a lot, but that is how I am. If things are working for me in a particular way, I will stick to it but if things are not then it is better that you try something and give it away. I would be someone who will always try to go down fighting.