Ashwin remained unbeaten on 102* off 112 balls at stumps on Day 1.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin was in dominant mood with the bat on Day 1 of the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
The spin all-rounder arrived in the middle when India were reeling at 144/6, but thanks to his sparkling century, the hosts finished with 339/6 at stumps.
Ashwin remained unbeaten on 102* off 112 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja returned with 86* off 117 deliveries. The duo was involved in an unbroken partnership of 195 runs for seventh wickets on the opening day.
After the day’s play, Ashwin reflected on his knock and stated that he embraced a more aggressive approach, inspired by Rishabh Pant's style.
"Always special to play in front of a home crowd, it's a ground I completely love. Last time I got a hundred here, you [Ravi Shastri] were the coach. It does feel special. It helps that I'm coming off a T20 tournament, and worked quite a bit on batting and playing shots. I've always been giving the ball a waft," Ashwin said while speaking to JioCinema.
"On a surface like this, it's better to go hard like Rishabh does. It's an old-school Chennai surface with bounce and carry. When there is width, you can give it a tonk. I love playing when there is bounce and carry. I enjoyed myself today," he added.
Talking about Jadeja's role in his knock, Ashwin said, "He (Jadeja) was of real help, there was a point in time where I was really sweating and getting a bit tired, Jaddu noticed it quickly and guided me through that phase. Jaddu has been one of our best batters for our team in the last few years. Him being there, pretty solid and he was also very helpful in terms of telling me that we don't have to convert twos into threes which was really helpful for me."
Sharing his two cents on the Chepauk track, Ashwin opined: “It's a typical, old-fashioned Chennai pitch where overspin will fetch a bit of bounce. The wicket will start doing its tricks much later in the game. There's enough in it for the quicks, good carry, good bounce if we present the seam nice and hard. The new ball will do a bit, there'll be some help for the bowlers, we'll have to start afresh tomorrow. There's a bit in the pitch, it's still damp underneath, so hopefully as it dries out, it quickens up."
Apart from Ashwin and Jadeja's stellar display, Yashasvi Jaiswal (56) and Rishabh Pant (39) made vital contributions to stabilize India’s innings, helping the team reach the 144-run mark after the top-order collapse.
Hasan Mahmud starred with the ball for Bangladesh on Day 1, claiming by four wickets by conceding 58 runs in his 18 overs.