On the eve of his side's second Test against New Zealand, Indian off-spinner Jayant Yadav has expressed his desire to make the most of his stint with the national team despite the uncertainty over his selection in the playing XI.
"The mood in the camp is pretty relaxed and I am relishing this stint with the Test team. I am looking forward to the first full practice session tomorrow and I am sure it is going to be exciting," Yadav told bcci.tv
The 26-year-old had been brought in the squad in place of medium pacer Ishant Sharma, who failed to recover fully from Chikungunya that also forced him to miss the country's 500th Test match
Coming off a decent performance on India A's tour of Australia, Yadav believes the recent unofficial Tests had been a good learning curve for him.
"I think Australia poses a different set of challenges as a spinner. Playing in the subcontinent and playing abroad is a different role altogether. For a finger spinner in Australia the margin for error is really less. Your roles change within the team and you have to adapt quickly," he said.
Yadav, however, admitted that he needs to be a bit quicker in home conditions in contrast to Australia where one can utilise the bounce and bowl a bit slower.
"Over here you have to vary the pace with your stock ball and margin for error is more as compared to that in Australia. In those aspects, it was a great learning curve and a learning experience. My role as a spinner in Australia was different to a role to a spinner in India. You get to learn a lot and you have to take everything in your stride and keep learning and implementing the learning in your game," Yadav said.
Expressing his views on 'consistent bowler' Ravichandran Ashwin , Yadav said he wants to learn from the premier off-spinner the ability to read the batsmen and the mindset while approaching different situations.
"I would want to observe his practice regimes, his preparations. Rather than getting into the technicalities I would want to know how he reads the batsmen and what is his mindset approaching certain situations which are essentially important in the Test level. I would want to know how he assesses the wickets, gauges the batsman, how he imparts a lot of spin on the ball and how he prepares for different wickets," Yadav said.
India are currently leading the three-match Test series 1-0 following their comprehensive 197-run win over Kane Williamson's side in the opening match at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
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