Ace Indian off-spinner R Ashwin picked three wickets in the first innings of the ongoing first Test against New Zealand and went past Wasim Akram (414) on the list of most wickets in Tests. At 416 wickets to his name, Ashwin is just one wicket away from equaling Harbhajan Singh’s record of 417 victims.

The right-arm off-spinner has said he has lived through expectations for a while now and he has gotten better at shutting out outside noise. His three wickets and a fifer from Akshar Patel, helped India keep New Zealand to 296 in reply to their first innings total of 345, earning them a lead of 49 runs.

"Look, I thought we stuck together really well as a bowling unit. 130-140 overs on that sort of pitch and going less than 2.5 runs per over, it was always going to be hard work and we were prepared for that. Everyone played their role perfectly. I felt the new ball was an easier time to bat in terms of scoring runs but we got wickets with the second new ball," Ashwin told host broadcaster Star Sports before the start of play on Day 4.

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"I thought it was a wonderful effort. Sometimes it is easier said than done. I cannot be saying clichéd things. I have lived through expectations for a while now, for me cricket is the purpose of my life. I am at that stage where I am shutting the outside noise better than I have ever done," he added.

Tom Latham was the pick of Kiwi batters with 95 and Ashwin called the pitch a testing one for both the bowlers and the batter.

"It was one of the most grinding pitches for both batters and bowlers. I would love to see a couple of my batters score big on this wicket," said Ashwin.

(ANI inputs)