Chennai :. Ravichandran Ashwin’s (102 not out) brilliant century and his 195-run unbeaten partnership for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (86 not out) helped India recover from a precarious position of 144 for six wickets on the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh on Thursday and score a strong 339 for six in 80 overs till stumps.
Ashwin and Jadeja took charge of India when India was struggling after losing its six wickets for 144 runs. But after this both the batsmen faced the Bangladesh bowlers with determination and returned unbeaten till the end of the day. Ashwin has scored 10 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 102 runs off 112 balls, while Jadeja has scored 10 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 86 runs off 117 balls.
Earlier, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bowl first and gave India three wickets each before and after lunch. India were 88 for three at lunch and 176 for six at tea time. Hasan Mahmud was the most successful bowler for Bangladesh with four wickets for 58 runs while Nahid Rana and Mehidy Hasan Miraz got one wicket each.
The return of two experienced spin-bowling all-rounders meant that India scored 163 runs without losing a wicket in the final session. Ashwin also scored his second Test century on his home ground after the 2021 clash against England, which is also his fastest century in the longer format for India.
After lunch, India’s run-scoring spree continued as Jadeja hit Hasan Mahmud for a six while Ashwin took a thick outside edge for four and hit a neat cover drive off the pacer for two boundaries. Jadeja welcomed Shakib Al Hasan with a sweep for a four, while Ashwin slog-swept him for a six. Jadeja attacked Shakib relentlessly by slog-sweeping him and then hit a straight drive, hitting consecutive fours. Ashwin hit a four with a brilliant on-drive off Nahid Rana and completed his half-century in 58 balls. Jadeja hit a four off Mehdi Hasan Miraz while Ashwin used the pace and bounce of Nahid Rana to flick him over the infield and then hit two fours.
After Ashwin hit a four off Shakib, Jadeja completed his half-century and hit two fours by pulling Mehdi, after which he hit a four by playing a beautiful cover drive off Nahid.
While Jadeja displayed a brilliant display of pulls, slog-sweeps and drives, Ashwin was happy to come down the pitch to hit Mehidy for a six and Nahid for a boundary and reach his hundred off 108 balls, much to the delight of the Chepauk crowd.
The opening session in the morning belonged to Bangladesh as Mahmud kept challenging the batsmen. He dismissed Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli back to back to put India on the backfoot but Yashasvi Jaiswal showed prudence and held the Indian innings together.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant was promoted to number five ahead of KL Rahul. Rishabh put up a solid performance, hitting five boundaries while scoring an unbeaten 33 in his first Test innings after nearly 20 months.
Electing to bowl first on a red soil pitch and overcast skies, Bangladesh got swing due to the moisture in the surface.
India hit the first boundary after 23 balls at the start of their innings, when Rohit hit a square drive over point off Mahmud.
However, on the first ball of the sixth over, captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 6 runs. Hasan Mahmud got him caught by captain Nazmul Hasan Shanto standing at slip. Shortly after this, Shubman Gill also returned to the pavilion. Hasan Mahmud got him caught by wicketkeeper Das. Not only this, Virat Kohli also got caught in the trap of this bowler.
The Bangladeshi pacers troubled the Indian batsmen a lot with bounce and swing. Hasan Mahmud sent Rohit Sharma (6 runs), Shubman Gill (0) and Kohli (6 runs) to the pavilion cheaply.
Pant (33 runs) and Jaiswal (37 runs) were at the crease at lunch.
After lunch, India lost three wickets in quick succession. Bangladesh managed to gain an edge over India in this session by dismissing Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul in quick succession, with Jaiswal scoring his fifth Test half-century.
Three overs after lunch, Pant started off by hitting Mahmud for a boundary through point. But on the very next ball, Pant once again tried to cut the delivery outside off-stump but this time, he got the timing late and ended up getting a slight under-edge straight to the keeper for 39 off 52 balls.
Jaiswal remained comfortable at the crease, especially helped by Mahmud spraying a bit too much on leg, and he reached his half-century off 95 balls. But Nahid Rana ended his innings as Jaiswal’s thick outside edge off the pacer’s delivery reached well to first slip. Jaiswal made 56 off 118 balls.
Rahul could not keep his leg glance down in the next over and was caught at short leg by Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 16 off 52 balls. The local boy Ashwin got a good welcome from the sparse crowd at Chepauk and along with Jadeja, he kept India away from any further losses between tea and post-tea stumps.
Brief scores: India 339/6 in 80 overs (Ravichandran Ashwin 102 not out, Ravindra Jadeja 86 not out; Yashasvi Jaiswal 56, Rishabh Pant 39; Hasan Mahmud 4-58)
