Perth, Feb 28 (IANS) India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was Man-of-the-Match in the World Cup Pool B match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) here Saturday, said he only aims to put in his best effort in every game without thinking about the results.
Ashwin clinched his career best One-Day International (ODI) figures of 4/25 from 10 overs to bowl out UAE for a paltry 102, which India chased down in 18.5 overs with nine wickets in hand at the WACA.
“I’ve never got a four-for before. It was running on my mind a bit but I was focussing on my basics and it was coming out well. I bowl at such phases of the game, it’s more of cutting the runs out, it can get a little difficult,” said Ashwin.
“When it comes to this format, I’m pretty much unselfish. It doesn’t matter if I get the numbers or not as long as I put in the effort required. I enjoyed bowling here the last time I bowled against Sri Lanka. It helps if you bowl it slower and there’s a wee bit of turn as well.”
The 28-year-old explained he persisted with his tactics.
“If you set the batsman well, mixing up the arm ball, and then you bowl one really slow, you are going to get him fending it and leg slip comes into play,” he said.
“My wrist is getting into a good position and that helps with the arm ball, the breeze helped as well. It was good to play the big teams initially, now we’re on a roll.”
The Chennai-born added that they are peaking at the right time after dismal performances in the tour Down Under where they failed to win a single game.
“We always peak well coming into tournaments. We had a tough Test series and didn’t do too well in the tri-series as well. But we always knew we would pick it up when we came into the World Cup,” concluded Ashwin.