India vs England: Man of the series Ashwin says this is one of the best runs in his career

Ahmedabad, March 6: R Ashwin on Saturday (March 6) bagged the man of the series award deservedly for his haul of 32 wickets from four Tests. With this effort against England, the veteran India off-spinner joined an elite club of cricketers.

Ashwin is only the second cricketer after former Australia all-rounder Alan Davidson to bag more than 180 runs and 30 wickets in a Test series. This was Ashwin's 8th man of the series award, and he joined Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee and Shane Warne in that list. Jacques Kallis has 9 man of the series awards, while Muttiah Muarlitharan leads the table with 11 awards.

Ashwin also surpassed the Test tally of former West Indian pacer Curtly Ambrose. Ashwin now has 409 wickets from 78 wickets and Ambrose has 405 wickets from 98 Tests. Wasim Akram (414), Harbhajan Singh (417) and Shaun Pollock (421) are immediately ahead of Ashwin.

In that context, it was understandable to see Ashwin this was one of the best runs in his career. "This is one of the best runs in my career. Being content is not the greatest thing but being happy is also important. Every pitch and every situation is different and this is where I find myself in. I love to live through it," Ashwin told host broadcaster.

"I didn't go to Australia, thinking I will start. Jadeja's injury - obviously it wasn't a good thing - but Ravi bhai and Virat gave me confidence. I actually can't put thought into it and say how well the last four months have been. It has been a ride. I didn't think I'll make a hundred in Chennai. I just came in and went with the flow. I can sit back now. What really has made the difference is the confidence the team management has put in me," he detailed.

Ashwin lauded Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel. "What Rishabh has gone through the last couple of years is amazing. Sometimes he comes and tells me Ash bhai I take these catches often in club cricket and in the IPL. He has been beyond excellent. Axar is someone who came in to replace Jaddu (Jadeja) and I thought he delivered for us. I thought his bowling was excellent and very, very accurate for his first series."

On the WTC final, Ashwin said: "The fact that we qualified for the WTC final is the most pleasing aspect."