Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja spun the web around the Bangladesh batters as India defeated the visitors by 280 runs to win the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, here on Sunday.
Ashwin (6-88), who was adjudged Player of the match, claimed a five-fer with his match-winning century at his home as Gautam Gambhir's first Test as India's head coach starts with an emphatic win.
Resuming at 158/4, skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib al-Hasan, the overnight batters, showed some resistance in the first hour and were unbeaten as they added 36 runs in a wicket-less hour of the morning, but Bumrah and Siraj kept things tight till the drinks break.
Then, the local lad Ashwin came into the attack after drinks and struck in his first over of the day, knocking off Shakib for 25 and broke the 48-run stand. The tourists slipped from 205/5 to 234/10 with the two spinners — Ashwin and Jadeja — ruling the roost. The spin twin shared nine wickets between them. Though Jadeja took three wickets, Ashwin finished with a five-wicket haul as well as his hundred on the first day.
After that Jadeja dismissed Litton Das when Bangladesh were six down. He bowled a full-length delivery outside off stump, Das came forward to defend it but got an outside edge which fell safely into the hands of the Indian Skipper at first slip.
Later, Ashwin finished his fifer when the overthrow did not matter with the wicket of Hasan Miraz, taking Bangladesh to 222/7. It was his seventh five-fer in the fourth innings of Tests and second joint most after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralidaran and only behind Rangana Herath's 12.
Jadeja denied Shanto a century as he dismissed the skipper for 82, reducing Bangladesh to 222-8. Shanto attempted a cut on a rising ball but got a top edge. Bumrah moved towards the right from extra cover and balanced himself to pull off a brilliant catch.
Ashwin again joined the party and claimed his sixth wicket as he dismissed Taskin Ahmed and India were just a wicket away to go 1-0 in the series. It was Jadeja, who put the last nail in the coffin, picking up the final wicket as he cleaned up Hasan Mahmud and India sealed the win in the first Test to lead the two-match series 1-0.
They were in bother at 144/6 on a seam-friendly pitch in the first innings. Ashwin then took control and batted confidently, scoring his 6th Test century. His vital 199-run partnership with Jadeja meant that India recovered and put up a total of 376.
Bangladesh were skittled out for 149 in 1.5 sessions with the fifty partnership between Shakib and Litton being the only highlight of their batting.
India did not let Bangladesh enforce a follow-on; instead, centuries by Shubman Gill (119) and Rishabh Pant (109) took India to a position where it set Bangladesh a massive 515-run target on the board. The visitors went off to a good start with their openers contributing to a half-century stand. They lost four wickets to finish the day's play on day 3.
Brief score: India 376 and 287/4 dec in 64 overs (R. Ashwin 113, Ravindra Jadeja 86, Shubman Gill 119 not out, Rishabh Pant 109; Hasan Mahmud 5-83) beat Bangladesh 149 and 234 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 82, Shadman Islam 35; Ravichandran Ashwin 6-88, Jadeja 3-58) by 280 runs.
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