Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is all geared up for India’s upcoming five-match Test series against hosts England.
The first Test between the two sides gets underway on August 1 at Edgbaston with India announcing their 18-man squad for the first three matches on Wednesday.
Ashwin is among three spinners named in the Virat Kohli-led side with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav being the other two.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated series between the two heavyweights, Ashwin has expressed his confidence in taking on the challenge.
“It’s a lovely place and I enjoy going to England and playing cricket there. For me it’s about going there, understanding the situation. We are a good team. It’s all about responding to situations thrown at us,” the India man was quoted as saying by the ICC.
Ashwin is India’s senior-most spinner on the tour of England.
The 33-year-old has previously played county cricket for Worcestershire and although there were reports that he might prepare for the tour with another stint in England’s domestic competition, Ashwin ultimately gave it a miss and chose to play the one-off Test against Afghanistan instead.
Kohli’s men will take on Essex in a four-day match at Chelmsford starting on July 25 in what will be their sole warm-up game ahead of the Test series. Despite that, Ashwin feels India are well-prepared for what will be a long a grueling series.
“Sometimes I feel we over-cook, over-prepare ourselves. It is important to stay in the moment and react to it. It will be crucial on how early we acclimatize in the series. Once we do that it’s all about reacting to situation and having that belief that you can retaliate at any point because it’s a long Test series. We are going to commit mistakes and so will the home team. I want to use my experience that I have played Test cricket for and try to make it to best use,” he explained.
