Nagpur: It may be a do-or-die encounter for India but off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin today insisted that the home team was under no added pressure despite trailing Australia 1-2 ahead of the sixth and penultimate game of the ODI cricket series here tomorrow.
“There is no pressure as such we are just going out and enjoying ourselves. This game is going to be crucial, so we just want to enjoy ourselves and see where we can take it. It has been a good and tight series so far,” said Ashwin ahead of the game at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha.
India lost the first and third ODIs in Pune and Mohali, chased a huge score of 359 successfully in the second game at Jaipur, before the fourth and fifth matches in Ranchi and Cuttack respectively were washed out.
The Indian bowling attack has been regularly carted around by the Australian batsmen, with captain George Bailey and opener Aaron Finch in an especially punishing mood.
Ashwin, who too has been a disappointment so far, said every bowler has been trying to improve.
“We are constantly looking to improve as such. There are always areas that you can work on, constantly looking to improve on. I have been trying to work on bowling more and more because that's the only way that you can get better. There is nothing as such to worry. The name of the game is to keep improving,” said the Chennai off-spinner.
Asked about the way the visitors have upped the tempo in the middle and final overs, Ashwin said the Aussie batsmen had played some high risk shots and succeeded and it was a challenge for him and others to counter.
“It is the trend of the series. We have been chasing down big scores. We have chased down 360. The score has predominately been around 300. Any team that has batted first has predominately got around 300-run mark.
“It's definitely challenging in terms of what the batsmen are doing. They are going for their shots. They are playing the high risk shots, the credit needs to be given. But as I said we keep trying to devise different strategies and see what we can do.”
