Home hero Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday said he made a conscious effort to bat aggressively on the red soil pitch laid out for the first Test against Bangladesh. The ploy worked brilliantly as Ashwin got India out of a hole with a sublime hundred in front of his home crowd. “It’s an old Chennai surface with a bit of bounce and carry. The red soil pitch allows you to play a few shots if you are willing to just get in line and give it a bit of a tonk when there’s width,” Ashwin told the host broadcasters after the opening day’s proceedings.

“Of course, I have always been wafting my bat around outside off-stump. Worked on a few things and on a surface like this with a bit of spice, if you’re going after the ball, might as well go after it really hard like Rishabh does.” 

Rishabh Pant too batted well for his 39 off 52 balls before falling to a loose stroke. On a day India lost their top-four for 96, Ashwin showed remarkable control and dominated the Bangladesh bowling in his brilliant 102 not out from 112 balls in a gritty rearguard effort, while forging an unbroken partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (86*). This was Ashwin’s sixth Test ton. Incidentally, MS Dhoni has also got six test centuries.

Ashwin attributed his strong performance to his recent stint in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, where he worked on his batting. “It helps that I’ve come back after a T20 tournament (TNPL). I worked quite a bit on my batting,” he said.

“It’s always a special feeling to play in front of the home crowd. This is a ground I completely love to play cricket in. It’s given me a lot of wonderful memories,” Ashwin, who slammed his second hundred at this venue, said.

Jadeja Among Best Batters

Ashwin also acknowledged the support of his teammate Jadeja during a challenging phase of the innings.

“He (Jadeja) was of real help. There was a point in time where I was sweating and getting a bit tired. Jaddu noticed it quickly and guided me through that phase,” Ashwin said, praising Jadeja’s ability to offer crucial advice at the right moment.

“Jaddu has been one of our best batters for the team in the last few years. His presence was solid, and his advice that we didn’t have to convert twos into threes was really helpful for me.” 

The duo’s 195-run alliance for the seventh wicket took India from a wobbly 144/6 to a commanding 339/6 at stumps on day one.

Looking ahead to the next day, Ashwin said: “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, and we’ll have to start afresh tomorrow. It’s still damp underneath, so hopefully as it dries out, it quickens up,” he added.