Veteran spin bowling all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja batted their way into the record books in an extraordinary rearguard effort that rescued India from a precarious position of 144/6 to finish day one of the series-opener against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium with an unbroken 195-run seventh-wicket partnership. At stumps, India was at 339/6 after 80 overs.
Of the spin duo, local hero Ashwin was absolutely dominant, sublime stroke play confirming his sixth Test century and finishing on 102 not out, including ten fours and two sixes. Jadeja was the perfect supporting act, remaining not out on 86, equalling Ashwin's number of fours, ensuring India moved a huge distance into the final session of the day.
It was Ashwin's second century at his home ground, after the 2021 match against England, and the fastest Test hundred of his career. Putting India in on a spicy red-soil track under overcast skies, Hasan Mahmud seized the advantage early by attacking the top order on merit of wickets.
Bangladesh appeared to be well placed to bowl out India for a low score as three wickets fell in the session when batting started to gain momentum with Ashwin hitting attacking shots and Jadeja playing fluently.
Bangladesh responded well to the morning swing and, though India got its first boundary 23 balls into the innings off Rohit Sharma's square drive off Mahmud, he struck back with a length ball that produced an outside edge to second slip soon after. He further managed to get Shubman Gill trapped for a duck.
But Yashasvi Jaiswal, who began to score freely with his wristy flicks and elegant drives, was losing his partner at the other end. Hasan was imperious enough to entice Virat Kohli into an outside edge caught by the keeper. Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant managed a brief revival with a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket until Pant fell to Mahmud for 39.
Jaiswal got off to a good start but did not get going much after that as his innings just about stayed put at 56 as he got a thick edge to first slip off Nahid Rana, followed by Rahul's dismissal leaving the team in further trouble. Ashwin received a warm welcome from the sparse crowd and responded with attractive shots.
While Ashwin started with a flourish, Jadeja took his time to come out of his shell and soon began to liberate himself, hitting Mahmud for six and adding boundaries against the spinners. The duo kept adding runs, with Jadeja reaching his fifty and Ashwin getting his century off 108 balls, thrilling the crowd that included his family members and BCCI officials.
Brief Scores: India 339/6 in 80 overs (Ravichandran Ashwin 102 not out, Ravindra Jadeja 86 not out; Hasan Mahmud 4-58) vs Bangladesh.
