Trying to get the better of De Villiers got the best out of me, says Ashwin

After becoming the second fastest bowler to reach 200 wickets in Test history, the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and VVS Laxman have heaped praise on Ravichandran Ashwin rating him as one of the best bowlers in the current game. But, like any other cricketer, Ashwin too had his fair share of pitfalls before transforming himself into India's prime match-winner over the past one year, the series against South Africa in 2013 being his lowest low. 

MS Dhoni put India in a commanding position in the first Test to set the hosts a near-impossible target of 458 runs for victory. But centuries from Faf du Plessis (134) and de Villiers (103) denied India a series-opening win over South Africa. Ashwin, who bowled 36 overs without wicket in that match, spoke about the criticism that followed his failure in that game.

"I had seen an article ... where (it was) said that an all-time great (de Villiers) and a modern-day great (du Plessis) had denied India. Yes, that's true, but I want to be bigger than both of them. If I want that, I have to beat them in that battle. But I couldn't. So I needed to get better and push ahead," said Ashwin.

Ashwin said that the caustic words had spurred him on to become the bowler he currently is.

"The criticism that came out of that game got the better of me. It told me that I wasn't good enough and that I needed to improve. It made me raise my standards," Ashwin was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Ashwin also said that he aims to win over the batsmen no matter what the conditions are.

"I want to be the match-winner every time I play. Whether I bat or bowl, that doesn't change. I don't think like I'm an off-spinner. I think I can beat anything - beat the conditions, beat the batsmen," he said.