Thinking like a batsman while bowling makes Ashwin a complete bowler: Cheteshwar Pujara

Indian middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara who scored a quickfire half-century in the 2nd innings of the ongoing Test against Bangladesh hailed Ravichandran Ashwin after the latter became the fastest man on the planet to reach 250 Test wickets. Pujara said that the fact that makes Ravichandran Ashwin a lethal bowler is that he “thinks like a batsman” when he bowls.

Ashwin being a proper all-rounder reads of the mind of the opposition batsmen quicker than others. After a relatively lacklustre performance in the 1st essay, Ashwin came back strongly to bag two wickets in the 2nd essay which pushed the visitors on the backfoot.

“Probably, he (Ashwin) is the toughest spinner when it comes to any opposition team. The teams now plan on how they are going to face Ashwin. I would like to congratulate him for reaching 250 wickets. The kind of brain he has, he thinks as a batsman, what are his weaknesses and areas he needs to bowl. I think it is his experience that makes him one of the strike bowlers in this team,” Pujara told reporters after the end of Day 4.

Ashwin gave away more than 100 runs in the 1st essay and bagged only two wickets but Pujara defended the bowler saying he was given a restrictive role in the 1st innings. “He (Ashwin) understands that there are situations where he has to bowl tightly. If you look at first innings, he tried his best. He bowled to a plan. There might be some occasions, he can’t get wickets. But that s the best part about this Indian team. We bowl as a unit, we bowl in partnerships, most of the times. Ashwin is the one who takes wickets and Jadeja plays the role of a holding batsman. Sometimes Ashwin has to play the role of holding the batsman and he did that in the first innings,” Pujara was quoted as saying by Cricket Next.

Also read: India v Bangladesh, Only Test Day 4: 5 Talking Points

Pujara said that the cracks have opened up and is offering substantial turn to the spinners. “I think the ball has started turning now. The wicket is slightly on the slower side but it has opened up and there should be more assistance for spinners tomorrow. We had expected the ball to turn from day three and it started turning little more from fourth compared to the third day. Lot of credit goes to the bowlers. It wasn’t t an easy wicket where you can run through the sides. You needed a lot of patience. They (bowlers) had to work hard to get them out.”

Talking about the ‘Test player’ tag attached to him, Pujara said that, “There is a perception that I can’t play many shots. But if you look at domestic cricket and overall. this was one of the occasions that gave me an opportunity to express myself and I did that.”

“I am very hopeful that (long-format) perception will go soon. I have got a T20 hundred in the DY Patil tournament recently and I am batting freely; probably I have added a few shots in my game, which is helping me. Even in the Test format, the way I am striking the ball, the way I am batting, I have changed my game, which is helping me in my T20 and ODI game. In the near future, I think things will change.”

Pujara was confident that India will bowl out Bangladesh in the first two sessions of the final day after the visitors batted pretty well in the 1st essay. “We are hopeful that we will get those seven wickets as early as possible. They batted well in first innings, but it was difficult conditions for our bowlers, I don t want to criticise our bowlers. We are hopeful we will get seven wickets in next couple of sessions,” the middle-order batsman concluded.