The third day in Indore was probably the toughest bowling conditions that India have had to endure during the entire series. But that isn't saying much. There was help for the spinners as the day wore on. There were footmarks and puffs of dust kicking up as Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dismantled New Zealand. That was when Ashwin began spinning loops around the batsmen.

There has been enough and more said of Ashwin's abilities on a spinning pitch. He has proven multiple times now that he is a cut above the rest when it comes to plugging away non-stop and using his variations to good effect to create doubts in the batsmen's mind. He got his 20th five-wicket haul today in Indore and was quite the star to the crowd cheering him on. However, the pitch wasn't as tough to bat on as the one given to South Africa in Nagpur as Ashwin himself admitted later on in the press conference.

"The wickets have also been far different from what South Africa played on. In Nagpur, it was very, very difficult for South Africa to contend with early in the series. So you can't really rate them on those things. In India once you lose the first Test or two, it becomes very difficult to come back, as it is for any other touring team to any other part of the world. But I would say New Zealand have definitely batted well, they've been in the game more than any other team has been when they've toured here," he said, when asked to compare the two teams.

The pitch, Ashwin hoped, would deteriorate more as India batted on and provide him more ammunition. India might not come forth by saying they prefer to play on such pitches, and take the home advantage. Indore's pitch isn't certainly a tailor-made one as Harbhajan Singh