Ashwin tweaked 'strange' run-up

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The tourists enjoyed a mini-revival in the middle session on Saturday, with Ashwin snaring two wickets as England went from 191-1 to 229-5 at The Oval.

However, the host nation - leading 2-1 in the five-Test series - steadied to be 385-7 at stumps, with Ashwin finishing the day with 2-55 from 20 overs.

The towering off-spinner said his early rhythm was not there, before the lunch break helped him tweak things for the better.

"It felt a little strange to be honest. I didn't get through the first six or seven overs," Ashwin said.

"I was hitting the crease pretty softly and was not getting up and over. So it was a bit strange.

"I came back at the lunch interval and saw the videos and got some feedback as to what it was and what speeds the ball was coming out.

"Then I realised I was probably thinking about too many things, watching the crease and not watching exactly where I want to go.

"It was those very, very small errors that if I go back to the room and think if that happened to me then I'd really be surprised and it did actually happen."

Ashwin said conditions were not in India's favour on Saturday, as England built a 237-run lead - one that should lead the hosts to a series win.

"Today was a very good batting day. The sun came out today and the pitch had flattened out. The seam was wearing out as the day went on," he said.

"So it was quite a hard day for the bowlers but we toiled pretty well and got something out of it.

"If we had got a couple more wickets it would have been ideal but I thought we gave it our all. We gave it everything we had."

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