Ashwin nearing full fitness, likely to play first Test

Published at Wed Oct 28 2015 11:30 IST

CHENNAI: There is finally some good news for India. Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been undergoing rehab for side strain, is nearing full fitness and is likely to be available for the first Test against South Africa, which starts in Mohali from November 5.

"I'm close to achieving full fitness and I'm feeling fine. I'm confident of bowling well in the series," Ashwin said on the sidelines of a promotional event here on Tuesday.

The offspinner had sustained a side strain during the first ODI in Kanpur and subsequently missed out on the rest of the matches. Being India's No 1 bowler in recent past, his absence was majorly felt in the ODI series, which India lost 2-3.

The defeat has definitely pushed India on the back-foot ahead of the Test series. While admitting that the loss was an unfortunate one Ashwin is not keen to dwell on the past. "It is not that we played poorly. We fought our way back into the ODI series brilliantly after we found ourselves trailing 1-2. We levelled the series 2-2 here and it was up to the last match in Mumbai where anything could have happened. Unfortunately, things didn't go our way and we lost," he said.

The Tamil Nadu offspinner feels the upcoming Test series would be anything but a one-sided affair. "It will be a close contest. South Africa are an excellent side and they have adapted to the conditions very well. It will be a tough challenge and we will be up for it," said Ashwin.

Ashwin believes the wickets have assisted the batsmen. "I am not taking away any credit from the batsmen. But I believe they have been scoring runs on wickets that have aided batting. Bowlers need to be given wickets that are helpful to them. I want to see batsmen scoring runs on wickets that aid bowlers," the 29-year-old said.

India have so far looked anything but intimidating with their bowlers struggling and their batsmen failing to fire. Ashwin feels the players need more time to settle down. "There are no weaknesses in the Indian side. We are a young side which is gaining experience. There are only a few players who have played over 100 ODIs, and so this team needs to be given more time. If you look at the South African side, players like Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers were given a lot of time to settle down.

"I guess Indian players too need a similar cushion. Before the series began, everyone knew it would be hard-fought and it did live up to its billing," Ashwin pointed out.