CHENNAI: Bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin smashed a defiant century to lead India’s recovery after a disastrous start against Bangladesh on the opening day of the first Test here at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday.
At the stumps on the opening day, the hosts were in a comfortable position being six down with 339 runs on the board.
Earlier, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s dismissal to put India into bat bore fruits as young pacer Hasan Mahmud ran through their top order.
Mahmud dismissed India’s skipper Rohit Sharma (6), Shubman Gill (0) and Virat Kohli (6) in quick succession to leave the hosts reeling at 34/3 just an hour into the game.
Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant then joined forces with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and together they raised an anchoring fourth-wicket partnership which yielded 62 runs.
The budding partnership was broken by Mahmud, who got rid of Pant. The wicketkeeper batter played a gutsy 39-run knock which featured six boundaries.
Jaiswal was then involved in another crucial partnership for the home side when he added 48 runs for the fifth wicket with KL Rahul.
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But, the hosts, once again failed to convert a budding partnership into a big one as both Jaiswal and Rahul perished in successive overs, resulting in India being reduced to 144/6.
Jaiswal scored 56 off 118 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries, while Rahul played a scratchy 16-run knock.
With India in heaps of trouble, India’s spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja turned the game on its head with a counterattacking partnership.
The pair dominated the Bangladesh bowlers and registered an unbeaten 195-run partnership for the seventh wicket amid which Ashwin brought up his sixth Test century.
When the Stumps were called, Ashwin had scored a brisk 102 off just 112 deliveries with the help of a dozen boundaries including two sixes. Whereas, Jadeja was on the cusp of his fifth century, having scored 86 with the same tally of the boundaries.
Young pacer Hasan Mahmud was the star with the ball for Bangladesh, picking up four wickets, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nahid Rana shared two wickets between them.