Having picked up four wickets against Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI at Manuka Oval on Tuesday, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said that he has done his homework well and is all set for the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia, starting on December 26.

“You have to spin it and rub it on the batsmen. First few days of a Test, I don’t expect the ball to turn. It has to be in the air, and later exploit the rough,” said Ashwin. “For the left-handers you attack the stumps and for the right-hander bowl outside the off-stump,” he added.

Ashwin admitted that he has been speaking to a few umpires and also consulting with his seniors like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who have had enormous success in these conditions.

“Later, probably if I could sit down with Shane Warne and chat with him. Meanwhile, I have been speaking to a few umpires and they say it spins on day four and five. But I have to look at the match as a whole, keep spinning and flighting the ball and hoping the batsmen would attack me,” he said.

The lad from Chennai said he was surprised that Chairman XI’s batsmen did not attack him enough on the second day of the three-day match. “I was very surprised that they were not attacking me. I bowled a few bad balls; I wasn’t hit for a six. I am always prepared to be hit for a few sixes anyway.”