Credits: BCCI
Indian ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin guided the side to post the final score of 376 runs against Bangladesh in the first Test. On September, India kicked off their first Test of the season by clashing against neighbours Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The home team, after having asked to bat first, found themselves in hot waters after they lost quick wickets, owing to the havoc created by young pacer Mahmud Hasan.
The young Bangladeshi pacer dismantled India’s top-batting order by scalping wickets of opener and skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli at scores of 6, 0 and 6, respectively. While Rishabh Pant, playing his first Test in almost two years, and Yashasvi Jaiswal gave the side some stability, Mahmud continued his destruction and forced Pant to walk back on 39 runs. India were reduced to 96-4 and and had almost lost the match when Jaiswal slammed a fifty.
However, India kept losing wickets when Ravindra Jadeja and local boy Ravichandran Ashwin held their nerves tight. The Chennai-born spinner recorded his sixth Test century and came up with 113 runs off 133 deliveries while Ravindra Jadeja scored 86 runs off 124 deliveries. The hosts showed excellent recovery and concluded the opening day with 339/6, owing to the 195* stand between Ashwin and Jadeja.
Day 2 started with Jadeja and Ashwin on the crease at 86* and 102*, respectively. Jadeja’s knock didn’t last long on the second day and he was caught out by Litton Das off a Taskin Ahmed delivery on the first ball of the 83 over. Ashwin and Jadeja built a crucial stand of 199 runs to take India’s score beyond 300-run mark. While names after Ashwin and Jadeja couldn’t do much but their knock turned the tide of the match for hosts as well as the visitors. India, who were in a tough spot in the early hours of the game, posted 376 runs for 10 wickets in 91.2 overs.
