Ravichandran Ashwin close to regaining full fitness; believes India were unlucky to lose ODI series

Ashwin is confident of putting up a good performance in the upcoming Test series against South Africa

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he is close to regaining close fitness and is confident of putting up a good performance in the upcoming Test series against South Africa, Cricbuzz reports. The 29-year-old believes India were unlucky to lose out in the ODI series and added that the hosts will have a tough challenge ahead of them in the longer format.

Ashwin, who has been by far India’s best bowler in the past year, impressed in the T20 series against South Africa and was expected to lead his side’s bowling attack in the ODI series as well. However, he was sidelined with injury after the series opener at Kanpur picking up a side strain while bowling his fifth over.

With Ishant Sharma out of contention for the first Test that begins on November 5 at Mohali, Indian cricket fans were hoping that Ashwin would recover in time for the match. The prayers have been answered as Ashwin revealed that he expects to be fit in time for the series opener and is confident that he can continue to bowl well.

"I'm close to achieving full fitness and I'm feeling fine. I'm confident of bowling well in the series," Ashwin said, on the sidelines of a promotional event in Chennai on Tuesday.

Ashwin’s presence was missed by the Indian side as the visitors went on to claim their first ever bilateral series win in India winning the ODI series 3-2 after a mammoth 214-run victory in the final ODI at Mumbai on Sunday. The South African scored 438 runs batting first with the Indian bowlers coming in for harsh criticism for their insipid bowling.

Ashwin though believes that India were unlucky and is confident that the side will get better as the players get more experienced.

“It is not that we played poorly. We fought our way back into the ODI series brilliantly after we found ourselves trailing 1-2. We levelled the series 2-2 here and it was up to the last match in Mumbai where anything could have happened. Unfortunately, things didn't go our way and we lost," he said.

Ashwin gave credit to the South Africans for their superb display and believes the ODI series was a hard-fought contest that, unfortunately for India, ended up in favour of the visitors.

"There are no weaknesses in the Indian side. We are a young side which is gaining experience. There are only a few players who have played over 100 ODIs, and so this team needs to be given more time. If you look at the South African side, players like Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers were given a lot of time to settle down. I guess Indian players too need a similar cushion. Before the series began, everyone knew it would be hard-fought and it did live up to its billing," Ashwin said.

Ashwin expects the Proteas to post a similar challenge in the Test format as well but is hopeful that the pitches on offer during the four-match series will provide more assistance to the bowlers than it did during the ODI series.

"I am not taking away any credit from the batsmen. But I believe they have been scoring runs on wickets that have aided batting. Bowlers need to be given wickets that are helpful to them. I want to see batsmen scoring runs on wickets that aid bowlers," the 29-year-old said.

"It will be a close contest. South Africa are an excellent side and they have adapted to the conditions very well. It will be a tough challenge and we will be up for it," said Ashwin.