Visakhapatnam, Oct 4 (IANS): Ravichandran Ashwin spoke about how he coped with being in and out of the team. Despite being one of the top-ranked bowlers in Test cricket with nearly 350 wickets, Ashwin has found himself being in and out of the team in the recent past. He didn't play the entirety of the West Indies tour and has been out of action in international cricket for much of the year due to not being selected in limited overs cricket.

Ashwin took five wickets in the South African innings on Day 3 of the first Test in Visakhapatnam. In the press conference following the day's play, he admitted that there was a point when he stopped watching cricket altogether. "For starters I have two kids who don't sleep all that well in the night," he joked.

"Jokes apart, every time I watched (a match) on TV I felt like I want to play, that I am missing out. It's very natural, everybody goes through it but I generally try to do a few other things in life as well.

"My life has been all about cricket for the last 23-24 years, just played the game with that much passion. Just felt that my family and friends deserved a little more of my time so tried to spend some time away from the game and develop a few other interests. I found that whenever I stepped back onto the park it was a much happier time for me."

South Africa have managed to come within 117 runs of India's first innings total of 502 thanks to centuries from Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar. They were 385/8 at the close of play on Day 3 and India will be looking to wrap up the innings as early as possible on Saturday.