Prasad pleased as punch

CHENNAI, JAN 30: With his test best figures of six for 33 behind him, Venkatesh Prasad faced mediamen with a lot of confidence at the end...

CHENNAI, JAN 30: With his test best figures of six for 33 behind him, Venkatesh Prasad faced mediamen with a lot of confidence at the end of the day8217;s play.

Getting the wicket of Moin Khan was the key to the dream spell he enjoyed, was how he put it summing up the five scalps he had on the day, conceding no run in 18 balls in an incredible spell, just after tea.

Mixing his inswingers and outswingers well was part of his game plan, he revealed. And being removed after one just over in the morning did not unduly perturb him. 8220;After the way the pitch aided the spinners on Friday, the double spin attack was a logical proposition. I was able to reverse swing with the old ball and with every wicket my confidence increased. The pitch behaved well and it turned the batsmen8217;s way today.8221;

How important was the day for him to get his confidence back after going wicketless in the first innings? 8220;Not that I bowled an extra yard hoping for the pitch to take care of the rest. I pitched up and things rolledkindly.8221;

Prasad candidly accepted that to a some extent he himself was shocked at the way things fell in place. 8220;I got my rhythm and everything happened very fast to shoot up my confidence level.8221;

Prasad picked Moin Khan as his prize catch of the day for 8220;the wicket having eased out considerably, to get the ball to bounce and take the leading edge was some task.8221;

How will he rate this with his six other five-wicket haul? 8220;It is not easy to pick the better ones. That it came against Pakistan packed with a good batting side may separate this from the others.8221;

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Oh for a few more runs! Indian coach Anshuman Gaekwad felt that a little longer stay in the middle would have done India a lot of good as now the Test is evenly poised.

He laughed off about any psychological pressure on Sachin Tendulkar when he takes on Saqlain again. 8220;His mental make-up is of a different level to let such things affect him.8221;