An unbeaten 195-run partnership between Ravichandran Ashwin, who hit his sixth Test century, and Ravindra Jadeja was the perfect rearguard act India needed to get out of trouble and reach 339/6 in 80 overs at stumps on day one of the series opener against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.
In the mid of the second session, India were in a hole at 144/6, before Ashwin (102 not out) and Jadeja (86 not out) ensured India were not just out of trouble but also came out with an advantage and swing day one in their favour.
The fightback from the two veteran spin-bowling all-rounders meant India made 163 runs without losing a wicket in the final session. Ashwin also notched up his second Test century at his home ground after the 2021 clash against England, which is also his fastest hundred in the longer format for India.
Post lunch, India’s run-scoring spree continued as Jadeja pulled Hasan Mahmud for six, while Ashwin got a fat outside edge running for four and unleashed a neat cover drive off the pacer for two boundaries.
Jadeja welcomed Shakib Al Hasan with a sweep for four, while Ashwin slog-swept him for six. Shakib continued to get attacked as Jadeja slog-swept and then hit a straight drive to collect consecutive fours. Ashwin brought out a glorious on-drive off Nahid Rana for four and survived a short bouncer test from him to get his fifty in 58 balls.
There was no stopping the duo as Jadeja tonked Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a four while Ashwin used Nahid Rana’s pace and bounce to ramp him over the infield and then flicked him for two fours.
After Ashwin swept Shakib for four, Jadeja got his fifty and went on to pull Mehidy for a brace of boundaries, followed by him playing a lovely cover drive off Nahid through the gap for four more.
While Jadeja was pristine in his pull, slog-sweep and drive, Ashwin delighted in coming down the pitch to clobber Mehidy for six and cut Nahid for four before getting his century in 108 balls, much to the delight of the sparse Chepauk crowd, before stumps arrived.
Brief scores: India 339/6 in 80 overs (Ravichandran Ashwin 102 not out, Ravindra Jadeja 86 not out; Hasan Mahmud 4-58) against Bangladesh.