On the first day of Team India’s return to Test Cricket after 6 months, it was yet again a carryjob for the Indian Spin Duo of Ravichandran Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja. But this time around, the two former Chennai Super Kings teammates didn’t save Team India blushes with the ball in hand, but rather with their batting prowess on a tricky Chennai wicket which saw even the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill return to the pavilion quite cheaply.
Winning the toss against the Indians, Bangladesh chose to bowl first looking to take full advantage of Chepauk’s wicket which showed signs of pace, bounce and swing. Their tactic paid off, as in just the first 9.2 overs, the Bangladeshi pacers managed to send Rohirat and Gill back to the pavilion, scoring just 6 runs amongst them. While Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant all put in a fighting effort, in the ends by the middle of the 2nd session, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin had a huge task at hand, that being steering India to a commendable first innings total.
And so, they became India’s life jackets, the ones they so often become with the ball in hand, and began putting up runs on the scoreboard. By the end of the second session, they were set, and what followed was the total annihilation of the Bangladeshi bowlers. In the third session of the day, Ashwin and Jadeja scored a total of 163 runs for the 7th wicket and tormented every single ball which was slightly wrong.
After the first two sessions had aided the pacers, the pitch had evenly flattened out by the time the Tea was done with. And Ashwin & Jadeja made good use of the sunny conditions. Just a couple of days after his 38th Birthday, Chepauk’s local boy, Ravichandran Ashwin got to his century and ended the day with 102 runs and his 6th home ton. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja was unbeaten on 86 runs at Stumps and will get his chance to score a century in the morning session tomorrow.
India, after Ashwin and Jaddu’s save from embarrassment end the day with 339 runs on the board and are in a commanding position going into Day 2. Still, as the wicket dries out over the 5 days, batting will keep getting harder and with Bangladesh’s spin cordon yet to make an impact, the match could sway either way. Who do you think will emerge victorious in Chennai? Let us know in the comments below.
