New Delhi, Nov 9: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin relished what turned into a dream test debut in which he claimed 9-128 only four days before he gets married.
Ashwin was surprisingly picked ahead of Harbhajan Singh for the first test against West Indies, and admitted he didn't expect to play as well as he did in spearheading India's five-wicket win on Wednesday.
“I don't know if it's a gift for me and my wife before marriage but it is a very happy feeling to go into my wedding with such a performance,” Ashwin said.
The 25-year-old repaid the selectors' faith by earning a rare man of the match award on test debut, and becoming the second most successful Indian bowler on debut after legspinner Narendra Hirwani, who took 16-136 against West Indies in 1988.
Ashwin will marry childhood sweetheart Prithi Narayanan in a families-only ceremony in Chennai a day before the second test which starts in Kolkata on Monday.
“I expected to get a few wickets but not so many,” Ashwin said. “It helped that (left-arm spinner) Pragyan Ojha was bowling so many maidens from the other end.”
Ashwin took 6-47 in the second innings, while Ojha finished the match with seven wickets.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of Ashwin for India and the IPL's Chennai Super Kings, praised the new spinner.
“He did not get a lot out of the wicket but it was his variations that helped him,” Dhoni said. “He was flighting the ball nicely and then he has the carom-ball and the top-spinner.”
Dhoni said it was too early to compare Ashwin with Harbhajan.
“Let's see him more because he has only played one game,” said Dhoni, who added he had been a little unsure going in with an inexperienced bowling attack.
“It was a difficult task in the sense that you didn't know what you'll get, especially with players who have not played this format like Ashwin and (pace bowler) Umesh Yadav,” Dhoni said.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy conceded that spin was the decisive factor in the game after India bowlers took 16 of their 20 wickets.
“There is no doubt that spin has affected us,” Sammy said. “As long as I know, spin has been our problem and losing 15 wickets for 200-odd runs (in two innings) is definitely a problem.”
West Indies lost five wickets of the first innings for 48 runs and was all out for 180 in the second.
Sammy said the team would work on playing spin bowling.
“We need to find a way to score against spin and not let them get us out,” he said. “I thought we played some good cricket in the game but our batting failed in the second innings.”
