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Rating Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of others, Saha said the off-spinner posed a big challenge to keep behind the stumps with many variations.
Kolkata: India’s wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha on Monday said that his team’s first target was to win the opening Test at the Eden Gardens to set the momentum for the three-match series against Sri Lanka.
“We are yet to see the wicket but the first target is to win the first Test and get momentum to win the series,” Saha said after the India team’s first practice session ahead of the opening Test against Sri Lanka from Thursday.
Not looking too far ahead of the South Africa series, beginning with Cape Town Test on January 6, Saha said it was about taking it match by match. “Every match is important and poses a different challenge, there’s nothing like preparation. We will go match by match. If we do better here then we will think of the SA series.”
Rating Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of others, Saha said the off-spinner posed a big challenge to keep behind the stumps with many variations. “Ashwin is ahead of others. He has got many variations, also the length varies, so it’s tough against him. He has more variation than (Ravindra) Jadeja, Kuldeep (Yadav). We have played many matches in Ranji, India A and during practice. The more you keep, the better idea you develop. It becomes easier after a point. I’ve always played with them in all my 28 Tests,” he said.
India boast of three spinners — Ashwin, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav — all are very different from each other. “Your 50 per cent job is done mainly by reading the hand at the point of release then you see how it bounces off the pitch and turns. The challenge is to hold on to all the balls, even if it turns or not.”
Among the pacers, Saha picked Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami as the seam bowlers who pose a bigger challenge than swing.
“The ball wobbles after it goes past and it becomes tough for the wicketkeepers too. But being swing bowlers, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar there’s not much of a problem.”
Asked whether they would play three spinners, he said: “Ultimately we will decide as per the wicket and see who gets maximum purchase from the wicket.”