Ravichandran Ashwin scored an outstanding counterattacking century to put India in a commanding position at the stumps on Day 1 of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh. Ashwin scored a test century after a three-year gap; overall, it is his sixth century in test cricket. With the century, Ashwin has now equaled MS Dhoni’s career tally of six Test hundreds, albeit in two fewer innings than him.
While batting at number 8 position in tests, Ashwin now has four Test hundreds, which is more than any other player after Daniel Vettori’s five. In addition, Ashwin now has 20 Test scores of fifty or higher, three more than Sir Richard Hadlee, who has taken 36 five-wicket hauls in the longest format like Ashwin. These numbers confirm Ashwin’s stature as one of the best all-rounders in the history of test cricket.
Earlier on Day 1 of the Chennai Test, Bangladesh chose to bowl first, and after an excellent opening spell from Hasan Mahmud that quickly removed Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill, Bangladesh was on top.
Mahmud claimed his fourth wicket by sending back Rishabh Pant, and India lost two more quick wickets after that. With India down to 144/6, it was up to the all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin, to pull off a miraculous comeback.
Jadeja and Ashwin, who are ranked first and second respectively, in the ICC Men’s Test all-rounder rankings, put up an undefeated 195-run partnership to lead India to 339/6 at the end of Day 1.
As of right now, on the first day of a Test match, this is the highest partnership for the seventh wicket or lower than the seventh wicket. The pair will become just the sixth to have a 200-run stand for the seventh wicket or less for India in men’s Test cricket if they add five more runs to their partnership on day two.
In 2021, Ashwin achieved his last Test century at the same ground against England. Similar to this Test, Ashwin then helped India out of a tight situation, who came in at 86/5 and scored 106 to give India a competitive total in the second innings.
Ashwin now has two hundred and one fifty-plus scores in seven innings at Chennai in Tests.
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