Sparkling Ashwin-Jadeja rearguard hurts Bangladesh

India 339 for 6 (Ashwin 102*, Jadeja 86*, Jaiswal 56, Mahmud 4-58) vs Bangladesh

On a day that many rhythms of Test cricket in India were meddled with, one incontrovertible truth of India’s recent dominant era remained steadfast: teams can compete with the India batters but don’t have the depth to outdo their lower-middle order. Who knows if Chennai boy R Ashwin, who turned 38 two days before the Test, will play another Test in Chennai? Or indeed the Chennai Super King Ravindra Jadeja? If it is their last, they started the first day in style, rescuing India from 144 for 6 with an unbroken 195-run partnership.

Among the two nearly inseparable spin twins, Ashwin was the better batter on the day as he scored his sixth Test hundred, leaving his fellow Chennai people in awe at the rasping shots whose sound reverberated in the stands. Jadeja wasn’t much behind, though, ending the day unbeaten on 86.

The pain of watching an Indian seventh wicket breaking their hearts might not be something new for Bangladesh but the way they got to the seventh wicket was unlike any other Test day in recent memory. For the first time in seven years, a side chose to bowl in a Test in India involving India. Even India said they would have done the same. And not because the preparation of the pitch had been hampered by rain: this slightly green, damp pitch was created by design during a week in which temperature records have been broken in Chennai.

The overcast sky only reassured the sides it was worth risking batting last in India. Then a Vernon Philander-like, wobble-seam line-and-length bowler, Hasan Mahmud, wrecked the top order with gentle seam movement. India recovered briefly from 34 for 3, thanks to some ordinary bowling around Mahmud, but Bangladesh came back in the second session to take three more quick wickets.

Then Ashwin started driving, and punching and pulling and slogging. Jadeja joined. And a whole new game unfolded. Until then Mahmud controlled India. Even when Taskin Ahmed and tearaway Nahid Rana wasted the new ball by bowling too short or too full, Mahmud was unerring. Rohit Sharma was tested thoroughly with seam movement either way before he edged one to second slip. Shubman Gill feathered one down the leg side, but he never looked at ease in his eight-ball stay. Virat Kohli came out full of intent, but that carries a big risk, which ended in an edge away from the body.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, playing his first Test in nearly 700 days, then added 62 for the fourth wicket against some indifferent bowling. Jaiswal made this his sixth straight home Test in which he has gone past 50. Pant began to look dangerous and by lunch India had wrested the initiative. After lunch, though, Pant fell to an afterthought of a cut shot, a stroke of luck for the persistent Mahmud.

Taskin and Rana then chipped in with a much better session. The ball still seamed around, although not as much as the first session, and they presented a sterner test by bowling the good length. Rana eventually did Jaiswal in with extra pace, nicking him off, and the serene-looking KL Rahul fell to a stunning catch by Zakir Hasan at short leg.

While Mehidy Hasan Miraz might have got that big wicket of Rahul, the spinners generally failed to provide any control to the Bangladesh captain Najmul Hasan. In effect, he never had a complete attack to operate with. Mahmud kept them in single-handedly in the first session, and when the other quicks got their act together, they didn’t have spinners keeping them fresh.

It is easy to say all that, but at 144 for 6, it takes some doing to expose this lack of depth. Ashwin began that as soon as he walked to huge cheers; in fact the cheers started as soon as Rahul fell, a treatment reserved only for batters preceding Tendulkar and Kohli. He got a single first ball, and then punched the pace of Rana for a four second ball.

There have been many rescue acts carried out by Ashwin and Jadeja, but none so emphatic. There was some flair to how Ashwin batted, staying on the back foot, meeting balls at the top of the bounce, and crashing them through covers and square leg. Jadeja played more of an old-fashioned knock, opening up only after getting himself in, but never missing out on a scoring opportunity. Ashwin, though, batted like he had never been out of Chepauk.

As the ball got softer, as the runs began to flow, the field had to spread, and the spinners kept providing easy boundaries. At various points, the two had looking at each other in awe. When Ashwin ramped the pace of Rana over slips for four, Jadeja looked like he was fortunate to have the best seat in the house. Ashwin returned the compliment at one flat slog-sweep from Jadeja. If the edge did arrive, Bangladesh had lost any rights to have enough catchers in place.

Six minutes before stumps, Ashwin got to his hundred in just 108 balls to send the home crowd into raptures. Jadeja celebrated it with a drilled boundary back over the bowler in the same over to enter the 80s. Just a gentle reminder that it wasn’t all over, and Bangladesh will have to face them again on day two.