Ravichandran Ashwin showed his class and deserved to be man of the series, says Kane Williamson
The Indian cricket team went right to the top of the ICC Test rankings after a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand. The home side won the third and final Test against the Kiwis by 321 runs at Indore on 11 October 2016. With the batsmen and the bowlers contributing equally, the team under Virat Kohli showed what it was capable of.
The top five run-getters of the Test series included four Indian batsmen with Cheteshwar Pujara leading from the front with 373 runs at an average of 74.60. The Indian bowling unit has equally performed well with Ravichandran Ashwin leading the bowling unit and becoming the leading wicket-taker of the series with 27 scalps. He was followed by Ravindra Jadeja with 14 wickets.
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Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Kane Williamson said that his team failed to adapt to the Indian conditions and that they fell prey to Ashwin's quality bowling.
Ashwin’s bowling class undid us, says Williamson
Asked if he and his team had a mental block against Ashwin, the Kiwi skipper said, "I don't think it is a mental block, more the quality of his bowling in these conditions that do turn a lot. Sure spinners enjoy that and Ashwin is the best at exposing those conditions. He has shown that for a long time now. The wickets that he has got, he has shown his class and certainly deserved to be man of the series."
New Zealand lost the first Test at Kanpur by 197 runs and the second Test by 178 runs at Kolkata. Ashwin grabbed 10-wicket hauls in the first and third Test. Williamson said that his young team had a lot of positives to take from the Test series defeat against India.
Players will learn from playing against two quality spinners, says NZ captain
"From our perspective, it is a positive to come over here against two of the best spinners in the world on these surfaces and get exposed. When you do get in that position, although it is frustrating, you do learn a lot. That's beauty of the international game," he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
"The more you can play in these conditions, the better you will be. People talk a lot about county cricket, you are far more aware of what to expect, this is no different so that would be helpful," he said.
Also read: 5 reasons why New Zealand did not perform to potential
When asked about his failure to tackle Ashwin in the Test series, Williamson said, “He's a very good bowler, we're always learning playing international cricket. I guess it's a new thing personally as well to see so much rough, which is nice to bowl into, I suppose I was a victim a few times."
He further went on to say that, "When you are put in that situation where you are dismissed in a similar fashion you must be able to learn and improve. The conditions guys are exposed to and the quality of bowling were combinations of dismissals. I guess in a backhanded way, we can be thankful for those experiences which help move your game forward."
With the ODI series set to start from 16 October, Williamson will he hoping that he and his team put up a better performance to counter the Test humiliation.