It looked pretty obvious we would win 1st Test, looking forward to 2nd game: Ravichandran Ashwin
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has insisted that the mood in Team India's dressing room is 'upbeat' for the second Test despite a disappointing draw in the first match. Ashwin said it was obvious that India would win the Test at Trent Bridge before rain interrupted and washed out the final day's play.
India needed 157 runs to win the match with nine wickets remaining. Although the target was historically difficult, the pitch wasn't the most challenging. Ravichandran Ashwin, who didn't play in the game, added that, irrespective of the result, his teammates believed they were better than England throughout the game. Ashwin said in an interaction with BCCI:
"It was quite disappointing, to be honest, because I thought everybody inside the dressing room knew how well KL [Rahul] and Rohit batted the previous night and how well our lower-order also struck together. So obviously it was disappointing we couldn't go one-nil up in the series at Trent Bridge. Having been a venue where we have done really well, it looked pretty obvious to me and everybody else that we would win the Test."
Ravichandran Ashwin added:
"Overall, the way we bowled and batted, we looked on top for most of the game so the mood in the camp was excellent, saying we know we can get ahead of this English side. So, yeah, looking forward to the second Test; what better venue to come to than Lord's."
Ravichandran Ashwin also shared an amusing anecdote on how weather predictions are often wrong at Trent Bridge, but it somehow wasn't on the final day. He explained:
"There was one thing that was really, really surprising in the last game. Whenever I played county cricket for Notts (Nottinghamshire), they used to say 'Today it's going to rain, we won't have a day' and all that but eventually I played every single day for 6.5 half hours. It was a shame we couldn't get a game in. I think the weather for this game is going to be pretty good as of now according to the forecast... hopefully this time we have got the side and a really upbeat mood inside the dressing room so it will be a really good Test match."
Team prepared for the slope, dampness at Lord's: Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin also spoke about the famous slope at Lord's that runs through the pitch from the north to south end with a drop of a few meters. He said Team India are well-prepared for it and also the possible dampness on the pitch. He added:
"The one constant thing that's spoken about at Lord's is the fact that there's a slope. The nets also had a slope. I don't know if it was slope or dents around nets (chuckles). It (the pitch for nets) was quite damp, the wicket (for the Test) was also damp, so good preparation if we come up against a damp wicket here, that's what we'll expect."
The second Test will kick off at 3:30 PM IST on Thursday. There is talk of Ravichandran Ashwin replacing Shardul Thakur for the game. It would be interesting to see how the off-spinner performs if given a chance.