Chennai duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja rescue India against Bangladesh
Bangla pacer Hasan Mahmud makes the most of the conditions to put hosts in trouble
Dubai: Chennai stars Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja used their familiarity with the conditions to full effect to lead India’s counter-attack after Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud broke the back with four wickets on the opening day of the first Test in Chennai on Thursday.
Chennai-born Ashwin remained unbeaten on 102 while Chennai Super Kings’ ace all-rounder Jadeja is batting on 86 as the duo put on an unbroken 195-run partnership to lead India out of trouble at 339 for six at close of play, after being down 144 for six.
Consecutive centuries
Ashwin, who led his team Dindigul Dragons to the T20 Tamil Nadu Premier League title at the same venue last month, has been in good touch with the bat and he continued his domestic form against Bangladesh to upset their plan with an authoritative knock to notch up his sixth Test century, second consecutive one at his home turf in Chepauk. In India’s previous Test at the same venue, the 38-year-old all-rounder had scored 106 against England in 2021.
“It’s always special to play in front of home crowd, it’s a ground I completely love. Last time when I got a hundred here, you [Ravi Shastri] were the coach. It does feel special. Helps that I’m coming off a T20 tournament, worked quite a bit on batting and playing shots. I’ve always been giving the ball a waft. On a surface like this, it’s better to go hard like Rishabh does. It’s an old-school Chennai surface with bounce and carry. When there is width, you can give it a tonk,” Ashwin told the broadcasters at the end of the day’s play.
Plenty of bounce and carry
“I love playing when there is bounce and carry, enjoyed myself today. Jadeja was of real help, there was a point where I was sweating and tiring, but Jaddu helped me through the phase. He’s been solid and one of our best batters. He told me we don’t have to convert twos into threes, which was useful for me (smiles). Overspin will fetch bounce, spinners will come into play later. There is enough for the quicks as of now. The new ball will do a bit tomorrow, we’ll have to start afresh. It is still damp underneath, as it dries out hope it quickens up.”
Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud had vindicated skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto’s decision to field first in overcast conditions, striking early with three wickets and took one more after lunch. India slipped to 34-3 inside the first hour of play and then to 144-6 in the second session before Ashwin and Jadeja began the rescue act.
The tourists, fresh from their 2-0 sweep in Pakistan, are looking for their first-ever Test win against India.
Ashwin and the left-handed Jadeja — India’s go-to spinners — blunted the Bangladesh bowling, to the delight of the home fans.
Ashwin, 38, reached his sixth Test ton in 108 balls with 12 boundaries, removing his helmet and raising his hands to soak in the crowd’s cheers.
Hasan ripped through the Indian top-order including skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — both scoring just six runs — to leave the hosts at 34-3 inside the first hour of play.
Battling knocks
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made 56, put on a 62-run partnership with fellow left-hander Rishabh Pant to get some momentum into the Indian innings.
Hasan broke the stand in the third over after lunch when wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who is playing his first Test after a serious 2022 car crash, was caught behind off a loose shot. He made 39 with six boundaries.
Jaiswal fell to Bangladesh’s new pace sensation Nahid Rana. Spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz then took down KL Rahul for 16.
Hasan’s opening spell of 3-14 put the hosts immediately on the back foot, starting with Rohit caught at second slip.
Shubman Gill survived just eight deliveries before being caught behind for a duck when he attempted a flick down the leg side.
Disappointing outing
Kohli walked in to loud cheers but the noise soon stopped when the former captain edged a length delivery outside the off-stump from Hasan to wicketkeeper Litton Das.
It was a disappointing outing for Kohli after missing his team’s 4-1 home win over England in March due to the birth of his second child.
India are looking to extend their lead at the top of the World Test Championship rankings as they begin a fresh Test season of 10 matches.
The second and final Test starts on September 27 at Kanpur.
— With inputs from AFP