Kohli wants everybody to be a Dale Steyn, and that attitude helps : Ashwin

Ashwin said, “In the beginning of 2015 I was very clear that I needed to be a permanent fixture in the team. I was at a crossroads. The way 2015 has panned out is excellent but the one notion inside me is always that it is not about holding on to your position but it is always about wanting to excel and in that regard I have done well for myself.”

He heaped praise on coach Shastri and bowling coach Arun who helped him re-invent his bowling. “Ravi Shastri (team director) and Bharat Arun (bowling coach). There is no one right person and they have come and guided me and probably (in the future) there will be another person, who will push me forward.”

When asked about Kohli, he said, “He wants everybody to be a Dale Steyn, be the best batsman, be the best bowler, best fielder and that attitude helps. Predominantly when you see Indian leaders, they want to be on top and as for people under them, they want them to be there. But Virat wants to pull people to his level, that is a phenomenal quality,” to the Hindu.

The off-spinner also revealed a bit of his fighting spirit when he said, “The point is if anybody throws a challenge at me I take it heads-on and I like to come out on top.”

When asked about his most-cherished wicket, Ashwin singled out his wicket of AB De Villiers in the Nagpur Test and went on to detail the strategy behind it.

“A.B. de Villiers in Nagpur. He was moving outside the off-stump may be to negate the LBW. I kept on bowling outside the off-stump, dragging him and then I bowled a couple of off-spin on the stumps. Now he was a bit jittery. He had to play the balls at his stumps, so then I came in wide of the crease and angled one in, the carrom ball and it hit him in line with the off-stump,” he elaborated.

The Chennai lad also revealed his interest in coming back to Chennai in the IPL.

“CSK is an asset of Chennai but if people say I am not going to play for any other team other than Chennai, it is not going to come from me. The game is what I love and I will turn out for any team and play with sincerity. Hopefully two years later when Chennai gets the team, I will get a chance, probably come back as a leader,” he told the Hindu.