Ashwin leads India to 1-0 series lead with all-around performance

Chennai: Ravichandran Ashwin's exceptional performance led India to a commanding 280-run victory over Bangladesh as he took six crucial wickets to dismiss them for 234 on the fourth day of the home season opener. India now leads the series 1-0.

In the process, Ashwin completed his fourth double of a Test hundred and five wickets in the same match, his second successive at Chennai. He has also now equalled Shane Warne’s record of 37 five-wicket hauls, behind only Muttiah Muralitharan’s 67.

Six wickets were needed to win when India took the ground under overcast skies but a determined Bangladesh fended off the fast bowlers to eke out a wicketless first hour. Visiting captain Najmul Hossain Shanto looked at ease playing both the fast bowlers and the spinners, grinding his way to a fighting 82 but wickets kept falling around him once Shakib Al Hasan was caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal in Ashwin’s first over of the day, bringing an end to a defiant 48-run partnership.

Jadeja was quick to work after that, drawing a sharp edge off Litton Das’s bat for Rohit Sharma to catch at first slip. That was the cue for Bangladesh batters to start playing shots. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who had impressed during the Pakistan tour with his lower-order resistance, miscued a hoick that Jadeja caught at long-on for Ashwin to complete his five-wicket haul. And then, Hossain tried to slash at a quick delivery from Jadeja but only got a thick edge.

Bangladesh folded up with almost 20 minutes to go for lunch, quite a turnaround given they had not conceded a wicket in the first hour.

“You have to be patient,” said Sharma after the match. “You’ve gotten used to things happening with every ball in India, but it wasn’t the case here. We were patient to get the big runs and take wickets.”

Sharing nine wickets between them, Ashwin and Jadeja being the headlining act again at home isn’t news anymore. But this game will always be remembered more for their 199-run stand in the first innings that pulled India out of the debris of 144/6.

“He’s always there for us over the years,” Sharma said about Ashwin. “I don’t know if I speak here it’ll be enough to cover what he does for the team. He looks like he’s never out of the game. He played in the IPL (Indian Premier League), had some fun in the TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League). He batted up the order and that helped.”

Given how Bangladesh had the upper hand on the first day, they will regret letting India bounce back from 144/6. But individual brilliance has found ways to be heard in team games and it was clear they had no answer to Ashwin’s counterattacking innings at his home venue. Letting India score 376 from there, and then offering feeble resistance with the bat in the first innings, Bangladesh have a lot to work on if they are looking to at least compete with India in the second Test at Kanpur, beginning September 27.

Hossain too wanted to glean the positives from this defeat. “The positive is how Taskin (Ahmed), Hasan (Mahmud) bowled in the first 2-3 hours, but India batted really well after that,” said Hossain at the post-match press conference. “Seaming options was the biggest positive, we’ve bowled really well with the new ball but need to continue that. Tried to bat as long as we could today and played to our strengths. Kanpur is important. Bowlers did well, I hope batters do too.”

Later, questions were raised over the fitness levels of Shakib, who had injured his finger on the first day, conceded over six runs per over in both the innings and didn’t score much to write home about. But Hossain defended him. “It’s not always the returns that matter. You must also take into cognisance his intention to contribute to the cause. And I can’t fault him on that count,” he said.