Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja became the saviour for India in the first innings of the Chennai Test. It was a different pitch compared to the pitches we usually find in Chennai as both the teams played with three pacers and both captains expressed their intension to bowl first. Bangladeshi pacers Hasan Mahmud (4/58) and Nahid Rana (1/80) enjoyed the condition to the fullest in the first two sessions as they shared 5 wickets among them.
It was Najmul Hossain Shanto who finally won the toss and put India in, a rare occurrence against India in Test matches in India. His bowlers enjoyed the early moisture on the pitch to immediately create problem for India. The hosts were 34/3 at one stage after losing captain Rohit Sharma (6), Shubman Gill (0) and Virat Kohli (6) cheaply. A gritty partnership between two lefthanders Yashasvi Jaiswal (56), who scored a fifty, and Rishabh Pant (39) helped India to recover somewhat but Indians were again in serious trouble at 144/6 losing their entire batting line up as KL Rahul also could not contribute more than 16.
This is when India’s magnificent all-rounder duo of Ashwin and Jadeja took control of the innings. For Ashwin, the Chennai boy, it is his home ground, where has scored a century in 2021, the last time there was a Test match in Chennai. For Jadeja, he is a Chennai Super Kings legend and knows this ground like the palm of his hand. They started the recovery and with Ashwin showing some flair, Jadeja was more than happy to play the supporting role.
Ashwin started briskly and continued the flow throughout his knock. His first 40 runs came in just 36 deliveries with 5 fours and a six off Shakib Al Hasan. By the time he reached his fifty, the duo has already added close to hundred runs and took India out of danger. The bowlers were beginning to get tired and the Bangladeshi spinners Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz failed to bring any control. Ashwin always looked to score quickly and played his shots all around the ground in both font foot and back foot.
The partnership started to grow and during the journey Jadeja also crossed his fifty. Soon the partnership crossed 150 as Ashwin moved towards his hundred. It eventually came in the 78th over as Ashwin completed one of his best centuries in international cricket with a single off Shakib. He looked confident and completely at ease in his journey to his sixth Test century. He also joined the rare club of players to score multiple hundred and take multiple five-wicket hauls in the single ground.
Eventually India ended the day at 339/6 while adding 163 runs in the final session as the Bangladeshi bowlers could bowl only 80 overs in the day. This will result in a loss of WTC points for them due to slow over rate. The unbeaten 195 runs seventh wicket partnership between Ashwin and Jadeja is India’s eighth highest partnership and highest against Bangladesh at the seventh wicket. They would look to continue this partnership further on tomorrow morning.
Ashwin also joined Ravindra Jadeja to become just the second player to score 1000 runs and get 100 wickets in WTC and this shows the advantage India has with these two all-rounders in their rank. Jadeja himself ended the day on unbeaten 86 with 10 fours and 2 sixes, exactly same number of boundaries as Ashwin. However, he has already batted 117 balls and has a slightly lower strike rate of 73.50 compared to Ashwin’s strike rate of 91.07. He needs to handle the new ball in the morning tomorrow and will look to add one more hundred in his glittering career.
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