This wasn’t a day for spinners, but it certainly became a day for India’s greatest spinner—with the bat—on his home ground.
Why did Ashwin seem more at ease than the top-order batters?
It’s lunch, and the crowd has quieted down, perhaps even bored. A few fans, donning Virat Kohli jerseys, sit still, with the silence from his dismissal seemingly in the running for a cameo in the next A Quiet Place movie. But then, someone steps out of the Indian dressing room and walks onto the field. Just one step in front of the other—nothing out of the ordinary—but enough to breathe life back into the morning.
R Ashwin didn’t need to do much to reawaken the stadium.
As the day neared its end, India’s score had been restored from 34 for 3 to 329 for 6. The once-quiet Kohli jersey-clad fans were now on their feet, pressed against the railings with phones out and horns blaring.
Ashwin was on strike, sitting on 99 not out. He casually clipped one of the easier balls of the day for a single, in conditions that, to say the least, were far from typical for a Test match in India. With fast bowlers taking five out of six wickets, and the ball moving laterally for all 80 overs, this was no day for a spinner. Yet, it turned into a day for India’s best spin-bowling pair. As Ashwin made his way to the other end, he exchanged fist bumps with Ravindra Jadeja, while the crowd’s applause roared on.
At 144 for 6, Ashwin walked in to bat. Bangladesh had let some of their early momentum slip in the morning but had tightened the screws since. There was pressure from both ends. Hasan Mahmud’s ability to move the ball both ways had placed him in elite company—alongside Dale Steyn—as the only visiting seamers to take four or more wickets on the first day of a Test in India since 2006. This wasn’t a day for spinners. But Ashwin punched a smooth shot off Nahid Rana’s 142kph delivery, moving from 1 to 5, signaling that it was, indeed, his day.
There aren’t many centuries from Indian batters batting at No. 8 or lower—just 19. Of those, only two came under tougher circumstances. Harbhajan Singh’s 115, when India was 65 for 6 against New Zealand in 2010, and Ashwin’s own 106 in 2021, when India was 106 for 6 against England. Remarkably, he pulled off this innings with the ease of a practice session, controlling 86% of the balls he faced, and scoring more than half his runs in boundaries. Ashwin seemed naturally inclined toward conventional attacking shots.
Some shots were especially memorable. One—a commanding cover drive off Mahmud—immediately erased any concern of him being dismissed on the previous ball. Another—a delicate uppercut off Nahid Rana—made people forget how he was nearly caught off guard by a previous bouncer from Taskin Ahmed. Then there were the sweeps, a shot he had practiced extensively leading up to the game. One went for six, the other for four. When asked about his aggressive mindset, Ashwin credited his recent T20 stint. “It helps that I’ve just played a T20 tournament. Worked on my batting and hitting some shots. I’ve always been a bit tentative outside off stump, but on a surface like this, if you’re going after the ball, you might as well go hard at it.”
India’s lower-middle order has bailed them out in several Test matches, maintaining an impeccable home record over the past 12 years. The dressing room remained calm throughout Ashwin’s innings, especially captain Rohit Sharma, who was seen lying on the floor, casually taking in the action.
The BCCI and team management reportedly did not request seamer-friendly pitches for this series, despite facing a grueling five-Test series in Australia later in the season. Yet, local officials were deliberate in crafting this surface, shielding it from the scorching heat of an unusually hot September in Chennai. They believed India would benefit from recent experience with the red ball moving off the seam—a testament to the savvy of the Chepauk ground staff.
Ashwin was more than pleased with the challenge. “I think it’s the old Chennai surface with a bit of bounce and carry. The red-soil pitch lets you play some shots. If you get in line and spot width, you can give it a whack. I love playing when there’s bounce and carry, so yeah, I really enjoyed myself today.”
R Ashwin reached his sixth Test hundred late on day one of the India vs. Bangladesh Test in Chennai on September 19, 2024. It was a special day for Ashwin, not just because of his birthday two days earlier, but also because of the setting. He had his family and friends present, and the Chennai crowd, ecstatic. His home ground has always been kind to him—he averages 55.16 here, not far behind Sunil Gavaskar, and much better than legends like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Mohammad Azharuddin. This was, without a doubt, Ashwin’s day.
