"Never seen an SG ball tear through the seam like that before" - Ravichandran Ashwin 

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has explained he was surprised by how the SG ball behaved in the first Test against England. Ashwin called the red cherry 'bizarre' and said he hasn't seen such wear in a ball for a very long time.

The SG Test ball apparently softened more quickly than usual and created problems with bounce for both pacers and spinners. Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah had expressed similar issues with the ball, saying it was difficult to extract reverse swing.

Addressing the press conference after Day 4, Ravichandran Ashwin attributed the early scraping of the ball to the hardness of the Chepauk wicket.

"It was very bizarre for us because I have never seen an SG ball tear through the seam like that before. It could well be a combination of how hard the pitch was on the first two days. Even in the 2nd innings after the 35th and 40th started to peel of. I haven't seen an SG ball like that in the last so many years. Maybe it could be due to the hardness of the pitch through the center making the ball cuffed up like that. But we will have an answer for it going through the series," said Ravichandran Ashwin.

Nevertheless, Ravichandran Ashwin made the best possible use of the wearing ball and the crumbling wicket. The off-spinner picked up nine wickets in the match, including a six-wicket haul in England's second innings.

"Washington Sundar is quite a special batsman" - Ravichandran Ashwin

Washington Sundar

In addition to his contribution with the ball, Ravichandran Ashwin also shared a crucial 80-run stand with Washington Sundar (85*) in India's first innings. Sundar batted flawlessly, playing classy shots against the likes of James Anderson and Jofra Archer.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who scored 31 himself, talked about his partnership with Sundar and called the 21-year-old southpaw a 'fantastic' and underrated batsman.

"We actually did believe that we could wipe off the follow-on and go on big. We have played on pitches here. We understand how it can be slow and we need to pick our shots and pick our battles properly. In fact, we got nicely settled in but I got a ball that bounced a little too much. But having grown up playing club cricket in Chennai playing spin is one facet of the game that I think anybody coming from this part will do really well. Washy is a fantastic batsman. I think a lot of people, going by the T20 format where he plays at number 7, don't recognize his batting talent. But he's quite a special batsman," said Ravichandran Ashwin.

India face a herculean task on Tuesday. The hosts, who have nine wickets remaining, have to score 381 more runs to win or bat out 90 overs for a draw on a crumbling Chennai pitch.

Nine wickets needed for victory on the final day of the first Test 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏏Scorecard: https://t.co/4MLZ9c8HZH#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/qYrYGiNwRt

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 8, 2021