Ravichandran Ashwin (L) and Gautam Gambhir on Day 1 of Chennai Test between India and Bangladesh.© JioCinema
India's Ravichandran Ashwin was at his best on the opening day of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh. Coming in to bat when India were 144 for 6, Ashwin joined hands with Ravindra Jadeja and bailed India out of trouble. The duo stitched an unbeaten 195-run partnership for the 7th wicket to put the hosts in a dominating position by the end of play at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday. Both Ashwin and Jadeja played beautifully with the right-handed all-rounder racing to his century in 108 balls.
During his knock, Ashwin slammed 10 fours and two sixes as the Bangladesh bowlers were simply helpless in the last session of play on Day 1. One shot from Ashwin during his sensational knock even drew a priceless reaction from head coach Gautam Gambhir, who usually maintains a straight face.
On the final ball of the 44th over, star Bangladesh pacer Nahid Rana bowled a short ball outside off stump and Ashwin cut it away for a four through the sweeper cover. Gambhir was left mighty impressed with the shot and the picture of his reaction is going viral on social media.
See it here:
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) September 19, 2024
"Always a special feeling to play in front of the home crowd. This is a ground I completely love to play cricket in. It's given me a lot of wonderful memories," said Ashwin after remaining unbeaten at 102 at the end of play on Day 1.
"He (Jadeja) was of real help, there was a point in time where I was really sweating and getting a bit tired, Jaddu noticed it quickly and guided me through that phase. Jaddu has been one of our best batters for our team in the last few years. Him being there, pretty solid and he was also very helpful in terms of telling me that we don't have to convert twos into threes which was really helpful for me," he added.
When asked about the nature of the pitch, Ashwin said, "It's a typical, old-fashioned Chennai pitch where overspin will fetch a bit of bounce. The wicket will start doing its tricks much later in the game. There's enough in it for the quicks, good carry, good bounce if we present the seam nice and hard."