Ashwin’s first century in three years steers India to strong position against Bangladesh

Ravichandran Ashwin’s brilliant century helped India recover from a shaky start and reach a strong position on the first day of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh. It was Ashwin's first Test hundred in three years, and it came at the same venue where he last reached this milestone.

Bangladesh decided to bowl first and got off to a great start with Hasan Mahmud leading the charge. Mahmud took four crucial wickets, including the prized scalps of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli. He also dismissed Rishabh Pant, leaving India struggling at 144/6.

However, the all-rounder duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin steadied the innings with a remarkable partnership. Ranked as the top two Test all-rounders in the world, Jadeja and Ashwin added 195 runs together, taking India to 339/6 at stumps.

Ashwin played a counterattacking innings, reaching his century in front of his home crowd. He remained unbeaten on 102 at the end of the day, while Jadeja is just 14 runs away from his own century.

Reflecting on his performance, Ashwin said he enjoyed batting on the Chennai pitch, which offered good bounce and carry. 

"On a surface like this, it's better to go hard like Rishabh [Pant] does. It's an old-school Chennai surface with bounce and carry. When there is width, you can give it a tonk. Jadeja was of real help, there was a point where I was sweating and tiring but Jaddu helped me through that phase. He's been solid and one of our best batters in the last few years. He told me we don't have to convert twos into threes, which helped me immensely," Ashwin said.

Ashwin’s previous century was also at this venue, against England in 2021, when he rescued India from another tricky situation. His innings today has once again put India in a commanding position going into day two of the Test.