Abu Dhabi: Chennai Super Kings may have failed to stop Kings XI Punjab from overhauling their mammoth total of 205 on Friday, but Ravichandran Ashwin said there was nothing to worry about their bowling.
“The match depended on how Maxwell played. He played a real special innings and it didn’t matter what sort of attack you play it would have ended that way. The reverse sweeps were falling wide off the fielders. Everything went his way,” said the lead CSK spinner, who went for 41 from his four overs in claiming two wickets.
“The mood in the camp is all right and it is bound to happen in this format. It will not be the first time and not the last time. We have been pretty used to this kind of things and we are already looking forward,” added Ashwin, who also back his pacers Ashish Nehra and Mohit Sharma to come good in the coming games.
“We played just two fast bowlers and between them, I think they bowled just seven overs. We can’t judge them from that point of view. If those guys gave away some runs then I think Punjab also had some good batters. It was just a bad game.”
Ashwin also felt that the pitch behaved differently in the afternoon and in the evening. “We have got quality spinners in there. The runs were flowing and it had lots to do with the way wicket was behaving. It played differently in the evening and in the afternoon.
“I have got an insight of the wickets and on what length to bowl. I have been in great rhythm and the other day we started really well,” revealed Ashwin, whose side was also guilty of dropping too many catches.
“We are not used to putting down so many catches. In the next game, Sunrisers (Hyderabad) and Rajasthan (Royals) saw our game and they started pulling their fielders in a little bit. The information about the outfield and infield is very critical and that was our firsthand experience and we will put to use this time,” said Ashwin.
Summing up the strength of their opponents on Monday, the Indian star said: “Delhi played beautifully yesterday and we all saw the game. JP (Duminy) has been in excellent form and Dinesh (Karthik) is a good contender in this format and he is doing well for different franchises. Delhi has put together a completely new side so we know what they can offer. We have to do what we can to the best of our potential.”
