A day that began with India losing three key wickets, courtesy of a fiery spell from Hasan Mahmud in the first hour, ended with them firmly in control at stumps on Day 1. Ravichandran Ashwin, the local hero, led India’s recovery with his fastest Test century, alongside his most trusted ally, Ravindra Jadeja, to end the opening day of the first Test in Chennai with India in control of proceedings.
Even after Hasan claimed three wickets in the morning session, his efforts were gradually overshadowed by the cheers, hoots, and whistles from the crowd as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, followed by Ashwin and Jadeja, took command of the match and neutralised the Bangladesh bowling attack.
Given the tinge of grass and moisture on the red-soil wicket, both captains were eager to bowl first. Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and made the right call. His pacers quickly justified his decision by claiming three big wickets in the early overs of the first innings.
Hasan took all three scalps. Rohit Sharma survived a scare in the fourth over, thanks to an umpire’s call, but eventually fell to an outswinger from Hasan. Shubman Gill was strangled down the leg side for a duck, and Virat Kohli once again fell chasing a wide delivery.
All three wickets were nicks, and at least a couple of them could have been avoided. Yes, Rohit did face a beauty of a delivery, but he generally struggled against Hasan. Gill and Kohli, however, should have applied themselves better. Hasan kept the batters guessing, with the wobble seam working its magic on a wicket that offered good bounce.
Bangladesh’s pacers were all over the Indian batting lineup. In the latter half of the first session, spin was introduced. Jaiswal collected eight runs from Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s first over, clearly signalling his intentions. Mehidy looked rusty in his first spell, as did Nahid Rana. Both struggled to land the ball in the right areas, giving the two southpaws opportunities to score. Taskin created a couple of chances in his second spell but didn’t get support from his teammates.Pant received two reprieves before the lunch break. The Bangladesh fielders became complacent and didn’t appear as sharp or active as they were at the start of play. They had a chance to pin India down with four wickets, but that didn’t happen. However, it didn’t take long for them to break the fourth-wicket partnership of 62 as Pant got out playing a lazy cut shot, giving Hasan his fourth wicket. Despite a 600-day hiatus from Test cricket, Pant appeared as solid as ever. His batting is synonymous with risk—a double-edged sword that can bring glory or disaster. Sadly for Pant, today, it was the latter.
India had high hopes of mounting a strong reply under cloudy conditions in the second session. Contrary to their expectations, the home team lost three more wickets. All three batters—Pant, Jaiswal, and KL Rahul—were well set before they were dismissed. Hasan managed to get the ball to move despite its age, while the other two pacers, Taskin and Nahid, looked ineffective with the old ball. There wasn’t much assistance for the spinners either. Bangladesh’s ace spinner, Shakib Al Hasan, was taken to the cleaners in his first few overs by the seasoned pair of Ashwin and Jadeja.
As expected, batting conditions improved as the ball got older. With the conditions easing, Ashwin and Jadeja played their shots, providing much-needed acceleration to what had been a slow-moving Indian innings. Post-tea, Bangladesh’s bowlers, particularly the spinners, struggled to find their line and length, as the Indian all-rounders rescued their team from trouble and put them in the driver’s seat by the end of the day.
Ashwin and Jadeja’s proactive approach, especially their footwork and Ashwin’s frequent use of sweep and cut shots, made life difficult for Mehidy and Shakib.
There were no demons in the wicket when Ashwin was batting, but he made sure to become a daredevil for his team with the bat.
Brief scores: India: 339/6 (Ravichandran Ashwin 102*, Ravindra Jadeja 86*; Hasan Mahmud 4/58) vs Bangladesh.