We need to pack them off within another 30 runs: Ashwin

"I think we need to pack them off within another 20-30 runs but we could have reduced their score by 60-70 runs if he'd (Michael Clarke) been given out. But it does happen, it's part of the game," Ashwin told mediapersons about Australian captain being given not out on 39 when TV replays showed that it was a bat-pad catch to forward short-leg fielder.

Ashwin was forthright in stating that he appealed as he was fully confident that Clarke had hit the ball.

"It was clear to me that he hit the ball and that's why we all went up to appeal. At the end of the day, it does happen. And Kumar Dharamasena is himself an off-spinner...We thought he'd give a few dismissals to me, to look at the lighter side," the burly off-spinner, who had figures of 6 for 88 said.

He did admit that the thought of emulating Anil Kumble's feat of getting 10 wickets did cross his mind.

"I'd be lying if I said no! Because the way things were going since the morning, the way the ball was coming out of my hand, I thought OK, actually it's a real possibility here. But in between, I had an injury on my finger and I had to go off the field. That took the momentum out a bit. Henriques and Clarke got in and they batted beautifully after that."

The 26-year-old however snapped back when someone asked him about his dip in form against England.

"See, I honestly think I didn't have a bad series against England. So if that was your opinion, yes you're supposed to have your opinion and I won't barge in on that, but I bowled exactly the same as I bowled against England, but yes today the wickets were coming."

Ashwin feels that people who are sitting outside have a penchant for judging a bowler's form based on the number of wickets he has taken.

"Yes, it does happen. Everyone sitting a distance away tend to say that the wickets column should say something, they say you bowled beautifully. On another day, they end up saying you didn't bowl that well even if you did. So I've got into a mindset where I actually have to put that behind my mind and go about doing what I do best."

The offie denied having done anything different from what he bowled during the series against England.

"I would say no, apart from touching up a few things with my coach, I didn't anything at all. I think I varied my pace at different points on the day. I've got to say this, today's spell is dedicated to my coach Sunil Subramaniam because he identified a small thing and we worked on it for five-six sessions in between the Corporate Trophy and this series.

"The credit goes to him (Subramanium) because it's very easy to spot a mistake, but that mistake's root cause could be somewhere else. But to exactly nail that and to get me out of that is what he did and all credit goes to him. It was about body position and nothing else."

Also Alastair Cook's form was a factor during the last Test series.

"That's the beauty of this game. Suddenly, if someone gets on a roll... the way Cook batted against us, he took the momentum away from us. That was probably the difference between the two teams, how you start the series, how you end up plugging things... He was in superb form."

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