Melbourne, Dec 27: Playing his first Test at the MCG, R Ashwin put up a commendable performance with the ball in the first innings of the match with figures of three for 81 in 29 overs. After getting rid of the highest scorer of Australia’s first innings, Ed Cowan, on Day 1, Ashwin returned on Day 2 to clean up the tail and prevent the hosts from reaching the 350-run mark. At the end of day media interaction, Ashwin felt India, with 214 for three on board, had their noses ahead in the Test.

Excerpts:

On his performance in the first innings

It's not often that spinners get wickets on Day 1 and 2. For it to happen, there are a lot of factors that have to go your way – how the bowlers are bowling from the other end, how the ball is coming out of your hand, the drift you get in the air and so on. I haven't played too many games here. Yesterday there was a lot of swerve in the air, the ball appeared to hang and drop on the batsmen. It was also drifting both ways; that's what I relied on mostly. There wasn't any spin but the drift made it appear as if it was spinning.



On the bounce of the track



Bounce is one factor which is going to keep me in the game always. I really enjoy it; the ball has done enough to keep the bowlers interested. Even today we saw the ball reversing and inducing wickets at close of day. I hope it just flattens out and becomes really good for us.

On whether he has a mystery ball that confounds batsmen


There are no mystery balls; I am just trying to evolve as a spinner, trying to improve day by day. Anything I find interesting, I try and give it a good shot.

On India’s overall bowling performance in the first innings

There was a readiness in all four of us to take wickets; we were all looking to get in the park and get 10 wickets. It's going to be about how well we recover in the second innings and that readiness has to come back.
We got better conditions, possibly; the clouds never really opened up on Day 1. The wicket was probably two-paced; it was stopping and seaming. Even today it was really seaming, you could never get on top of the bowlers. We bowled well in certain phases of the game. We probably could have [gifted] a [fewer] loose balls to them.

On having to keep one end tight for the pacers



We gave away too many runs after lunch. I was going through a very decent spell not in terms of wickets but in terms of keeping batsmen down and keeping them guessing. That role was important for the team management because they wanted to run three seamers from the other end. If one end wasn't blocked, the seamers would have had trouble coming [in] again and again. I told MS [Dhoni] I would try to keep one end [tight]. I am so happy I could do it.

On Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket in the final over of the day

We're very happy to be in the position we are presently. Probably one wicket less would have been nice. Tendulkar played very well but eventually he got a good ball.



On how the game was poised after Day 2

After that one wicket in the end, we have to rebuild before the second new ball. It will be an interesting contest and we will have to stick our heads out and bat really well. [We’re] 100 runs behind; we know how Rahul [Dravid] and Sachin could have really stacked it up. That didn't happen. Hopefully someone else can do it; we know VVS Laxman is there. If the sun beats down and the wicket eases [a bit] more, we need to bat as much as possible and get as much of a lead as possible. As far as this game's result goes, it's all about the first-innings situation the two teams find themselves in.


On how he expects the wicket to behave on the final three days


I hope there are patches which open up. As of now, the wicket is hard and solid underneath; it doesn't look like it would break much. Any deviation from the wicket would certainly help. We have to put ourselves in a good position with the bat and then take it from there.