Wicket had nothing for batsmen - Ashwin

Off-spinner Ravi Ashwin, who captured a six-wicket haul yesterday in his debut Test, said the Feroz Shah Kotla track had not offered him any help.

He finished with match figures of nine for 128 to put India in a winning position against West Indies heading into the penultimate day of the first Test.

"This was a wicket that had nothing for the batsmen and the bowlers. If a batsman is not patient enough he will give you the wicket. But you have to struggle on this track," Ashwin said.

"I changed my speed today and tried to bowl a little quicker and accurate. I have seen a wicket like this which is not receptive to so many revolutions on the ball.

"Honestly speaking, I have never got wickets on such a wicket. It is not my bread and butter as I need spin and bounce. At least, if there is bounce you can see the ball carrying to short-leg and silly point, but there was nothing for the batsmen or the bowlers.

"I tried to bowl a wee bit quicker and on to the stumps and it paid off."

Ashwin bagged six for 47 to bowl out West Indies for 180 in their second innings, leaving India with 276 to chase for victory. They ended the day on 152 for two.

He struck key blows, removing top scorer Shiv Chanderpaul (47), captain Darren Sammy (42), Darren Bravo for 12 and the dangerous Marlon Samuels without scoring.

"Samuels was probably playing for the turn and worried about the bat-pad to short-leg, but probably if you have played in Delhi and the Kotla, you do know that it won't go to short-leg,' Ashwin pointed out.

"Unfortunately, he did not know that and he was looking for the spin and it went straight on."He added: "I didn't expect to get so many wickets but before the Test match I was hoping that I could get a five-wicket haul and get some runs with the bat. Unfortunately, the second part did not happen."