'Change in colour of ball could change our luck'
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With India heading towards a second successive overseas 'whitewash', off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels that upcoming tri-series could bring a "change in luck as the colour of the ball will change".
"Every thing is gonna start fresh. It is going to be a different ball game. The colour of the ball also changes. So, hopefully, we can change our luck as well," Ashwin said, while emphasising on the upcoming tri-nation ODI series.
'We can't really do anything at the present'
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Set a daunting target of 500, India were left in tatters with six of their top batsman returning to the hut for just 166 runs, and a complete day's play to go.
Ashwin, however, said the team tried its level best.
"We tried our best and it has not come out well, so we have to think what's gonna happen at home, can't really do anything at the present," Ashwin insisted.
'We always stumbled on a roadblock'
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He added there were situations where they had an upper hand but failed to seize the initiative.
"We always stumbled on a roadblock when we got the three wickets and could not get the fourth wicket quickly enough to attack, and attack as a whole.
"We have gone into a break and have not been able to comeback and really seize the initiative," he said.
'We have not faulted or cheated anybody'
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The tweaker reiterated that it was not correct to say that the team has been embarrassed and insisted he would rather term the onslaught a huge disappointment.
"Embarrassment is not the right word; we have not faulted or cheated anybody. We are extremely disappointed," he said.
He was also candid enough in admitting that they don't have any answer for the collective "failure as a unit".
'If we have failed, we have failed as a unit'
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India's batting has come in for severe criticism for its non-performance but Ashwin insisted that everyone is responsible for the poor showing and not just the batters.
"It's a team game and should be thought as such. If we have failed, we have failed as a unit. If batsmen haven't got runs, they haven't given enough time for bowlers to recover. If the bowlers haven't done well, they haven't given enough for batsmen in the dressing room. We failed as a unit."
'I feel awkward to give excuses'
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There was a belief that with batters failing constantly, India could have reshuffled the batting order.
"I really don't belong to the top seven. I was always at number eight, so my duty was always to keep one end and post some score on the board for the bowlers to really work in case there was a trouble or slump.
"This wicket looked flat and we thought we would bat really well here. I feel awkward to give excuses. At the end of the day, things didn't go our way... if we had runs on the board, things could have looked a little different. But you can't rewrite the script, can you?"
'As youngsters we would try to take as much learning from the series as possible'
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Ashwin, who took two for 72 in Australia's second innings, felt he bowled well in the series.
"There have been phases when I've bowled well. I wouldn't say I didn't have much luck, but we always stumped upon a roadblock.
"With due credit, just a couple of players have used their feet very well. In Australian conditions, with kookaburra ball, even if you deceive them in the flight, they go through with shots.
"This is the learning I've taken from the series, and I would work on when guys are stepping out to me. At the end of the day, as a bunch of youngsters who are there in the squad, we would try to take as much learning from the series as possible and walk with our heads held high and try and use it somewhere else."
'We really need to forget and get on with it'
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The young off-spinner was hopeful of things being different in the One-day Internationals that follow the Test series.
"Everything is going to be fresh. Even the colour of the ball is changed. Hopefully, we could change our luck as well.
"We really need to forget and get on with it. People coming with fresh energy would really help. Even when we lost in England, with dew and rain, we were not bad. If we get on top here, we should never let the opposition get back."
Ashwin takes his role of facing the media very seriously
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Ashwin has often faced media on this tour while seniors have avoided facing the heat. But the youngster is prepared to take this new role on his chin.
"If that's what is required of me (to attend press conferences), if this is also a role I have to play as a cricketer, I definitely have to play it. If it is for the team anybody can take, I am ready to take it."
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