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Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin admitted that India's bowlers were guilty of leaking too many runs in the post-tea session as a result of which Australia swelled their lead to 348 runs going into the final day of the fourth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, on Friday.
India gave away 213 runs in 34 overs in the session as the hosts ended the day on 251 for six in 40 overs in their second innings.
After sharing the new-ball with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashwin (4-105) picked four wickets but the scalps came at a price.
"We definitely leaked a lot more runs than we would have liked to," Ashwin said.
"We started off pretty poorly with the new ball and they played a few good shots; definitely the game could have been different. Yet the match is still pretty decently poised for tomorrow.”
“They definitely have an ace up their sleeve. When I batted, there weren't many devils in the wicket. I definitely found it a little hard to score but it’s a new-ball wicket," he added.
Ashwin scored his fourth Test fifty before his bowling effort in the second innings and he believes the match is still evenly poised.
"When I was batting I was looking to bat as long as possible. I wanted to eat into as many overs to make sure if at all a team won, it was going to be India.”
“Fortunately or unfortunately, the game is very well-poised now. You don't know where it will go and it depends on what strategy they adopt.
Talking about his four-wicket haul, he added, "When you have been working on something and efforts you have put in and it pays off in numbers, it feels heartening. I thought this could be a chance where I could create something for the team.”
"Ideally I would have liked a little bit more control from the other side and that would have been nice, but they also took us on. You have to give credit to them. They batted very positively. They wanted to take the game forward, which is a very good sign."