India v New Zealand, 3rd Test: Difficult Indore pitch tests Ashwin, Latham

'In rhythm, I can beat any batsman in the world' - Ashwin Even if you don't go looking for it, you get comments on pitches in India. Before this Test began, in response to a photo of the pitch tweeted by the BCCI,Harbhajan Singh, India's most successful offspinner, tweeted it looked like a two-day-old pitch already, and predicted a finish in three-and-a-half days.

With India batting for almost two days, people on Twitter began to ridicule Harbhajan. His response was to wait and watch for the turn, and that he got such turners only twice - Kanpur 2008 and Mumbai 2004 - in his whole career inIndia. He reckoned his and Anil Kumble's wicket tally would have been"something else" if they got the pitches India have been playing on in the last"four" years.If this was unsolicited,R Ashwin's first answer at a press conference after completing his 20th five-wicket haul, which bowled New Zealand out for 299, was to mention how difficult a pitch it was.

He was asked how important the other bowlers were - Ashwin got six, he ran two batsmen out, and Ravindra Jadeja got two wickets - and he looked bemused. He seemed to stop himself from answering sarcastically lest it be misconstrued, and said, "It was very important. It was a very, very difficult wicket to bowl on. The way Shami and Umesh bowled in the morning, they never let go of the steam. Especially Umesh bowled very quick through the day. Hopefully they can get some good returns in the second innings."Tom Latham, the only man besides Rohit Sharma to have scored a half-centuryin each of the Tests, was presented a similar sentiment by a journalist. He was asked if he agreed the pitch didn't offer much turn or didn't crack up.

Latham's response was sharp too. "Not sure what game you're watching," Latham retorted. "Certainly starting to turn. Lot of footmarks there. Might not be cracking up so much but there are dust and a lot of footmarks for bowlers to work with. They'll be targeting those in the second innings so got to find a way of rectifying that."The truth about the pitch might be somewhere in between. It is not the classic Indian pitches that Harbhajan bowled a lot on during his day, but it hasn't turnedout to be likeNagpurlast year or evenKanpurthis year. At the outset this looked a lot like the Kanpur pitch with a lot of cracks and expected to turn sharply from day two. It certainly hasn't because India have now been officially warned for two players - not in the act of bowling - running on the danger zone despite cautionary warnings from the umpires. Latham said it was not something they could worry."Out of our hands as players," Latham said. "We've got nothing to do with it, it's up to the umpires. They make the call."'A very hard wicket to start on' - Latham However, it was wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who alerted the umpires just before M Vijay was officially warned for running on the danger area when batting on the third evening. On the second evening, Jadeja's transgression after three warnings - two informal and one official - had resulted in a five-run penalty for India and three demerit points for Jadeja. India didn't contest the charge, and Jadeja stands one demerit point short of being suspended for a Test or two limited-overs internationals.Latham chose to not get involved when asked if he felt it was deliberate. "It's cricket," he said. "Guys are going to walk on the wicket. We've got a big job to doin the second innings. Going to focus on that."India clearly feel the pitch needs to deteriorate more, which is one of the reasons why they didn't enforce the follow-on.

Let there be more overs on it, let it bake more in the sun, and then give New Zealand somewhere around five sessions to bat to save this Test. Ashwin said they were going to take a call on when to make the declaration in the middle session on day four. He felt the pitch could do with some more wear and tear."We're just giving it every chance to wear over the time that we bat on over the next session or two," Ashwin said. "And see how it turns out. But from one side, from the Pavilion End, there is a lot of rough. From the other end it's not spinning a lot. Hopefully it will deteriorate."

Over three instalments of their rivalry in this series, R Ashwin has used control, cunning and temptation to get the better of New Zealand's best batsman

Agarkar: Ashwin's line and length is impeccableThere is no point. The fielder, that is. The mind must keep telling you that there is no fielder at point. It is an over of temptation. An offspinner is bowling with a slip, a cover and a mid-off. It is not a new ploy on a pitch with some turn, but it is still a temptation. On the leg side, there are two men waiting for catches, twomen to stop singles and two men to save boundaries.

And this particular offspinner, R Ashwin, is teasing you; he is bowling short of a driving length, but not quite short enough to cut.At the start of this particular over, the 43rd of the New Zealand innings,Kane Williamsonis on 8 off 19. He goes back to the first ball. Then he sees it is not short enough to cut and plays defensively with a straight bat, with the turn. Eight off 20 now.

The next one is not full either. Williamson goes back again, that gap at point screaming, but again he makes a late decision that this is not short enough to cut. And he defends with a straight bat again. Eight off 21 now. The third ball of the over is defended off the front foot, the fourth stays low andnearly defeats the pull.On 8 off 23, Williamson has to be thinking runs too, especially after the momentum provided by the opening stand of 118 and with a quick outfield on offer.

You can't let India spinners bowl wherever they want to, because then youwill be on nothing when on eventually gets you. Williamson, though, clearly remembers his dismissal in Kanpur where he had gone after a similar temptation and was done in by a more spiteful pitch. That ball had turned back with a puff of dust to hit Williamson's stumps. You want the runs, you need the runs, but you must watch out against falling into that trap.The fifth ball of this over is again not full, but not too short; it lands in the same spot as the one that got Williamson in Kanpur. Williamson's first instinct is to press forward here, but he finally gives in to the temptation. Perhaps he thinks this pitch is not turning as much as Kanpur, which makes him think he can pull off that daring shot. Graeme Swann once compared cutting an offspinner to patting a burning dog.Ashwin's fields and his accuracy, coupled with the odd trick from the pitch, havemade sure here that Williamson has to pat a burning dog if he wants to release the pressure.

After Williamson has let two of them go by, the third one burns his fingers. It turns back more than he expects it to again, hits the high part of the bat, and goes on to the stumps. The look on Williamson's face is of a man who knew he had bitten the forbidden apple.