File photo of Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir© AFP
The Indian cricket team completely outplayed Bangladesh to register a mammoth 280-run victory in the first Test match in Chennai on Sunday. Chasing a target of 515, Bangladesh never looked in the hunt as they were bowled out for 234. Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he took 6 wickets for 88 runs. It was also a special win for head coach Gautam Gambhir as it was his maiden Test victory in charge. Gambhir took to social media to post a special message for the team following the win as he wrote - "A fantastic start! Well done boys!".
Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma on Sunday emphasised on building his team around "strong bowling options" in order to take the conditions out of the equation as they gear up for the challenges that lay ahead in the run-up to the World Test Championship.
Riding on a brilliant all-round performance, India cantered to a massive 280-run victory in the first Test against Bangladesh with five sessions to spare.
Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin completed a memorable all-round outing with a six-wicket haul as a dominant India crushed Bangladesh, after Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill struck fluent hundreds.
"We want to build our team around strong bowling options, we have to be ready to face whatever the conditions offer," Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
"No matter what the conditions are, whether we play in India, whether we play outside, we want to build the team around that.
"In the last few years, wherever we have played, we have managed to have that in the armoury, whether it is seam bowling options or spin bowling options," the skipper added.
Set an improbable target of 515, Bangladesh were bowled out for 234 in their second innings, with first-inning centurion Ashwin (6/88) doing the bulk of the damage at the his home ground at the Chepauk.
"It was a great result looking at what lies ahead for us. We are playing after a long time, but you are never out of cricket. We came here a week before, we had a good lead up to the Test match and we got the result that we wanted," Rohit said.
(With PTI inputs)