Star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said on Sunday that playing on pitches that offer turn from day one is not that different than playing on pitches with seaming conditions, reported The Hindu. The comments come after he picked up five wickets on day two of the second Test against England in Chennai.

Ashwin said, “It is about being patient, just like when you play on a seaming wicket. You need to tide through the early phase and start putting runs on the board.”

He added, “When it comes to spin, they want conditions to be in their favour, be it driving or cutting. On a seaming wicket, you can’t do all that when you play in the morning. So the same benchmarks must be set when you play spin on a challenging wicket.”

“I would say that the challenges are far greater when the ball is moving at 140-150 kph off the deck compared to a ball spinning at 85-90 kph,” said Ashwin.

Ashwin on Sunday surpassed Harbhajan Singh to become the second highest wicket-taker in Tests played in India, reported PTI. Ashwin achieved the feat by dismissing Ben Stokes with a perfect off-spinner on the second day of the second Test in Chennai. 

While Harbhajan had taken 265 wickets in India at an average of 28.76, Ashwin’s 266 wickets at home has come at an average of 22.67.

Ashwin’s achievement came at a time India was dominating England. This was the veteran off-spinner’s second successive five-wicket haul and his 29th in 76 Tests.

Debutant Axar Patel and Ishant Sharma picked up two wickets each. India had a lead of 195 runs after scoring 329 in their first innings.