It has become an unwritten rule these days that whenever India finds themselves under pressure at home, losing a few early wickets in a tricky situation, their veteran spin bowling all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, always comes into the crease and scores the run with comfort and shows his class with the bat in hand.
Against Bangladesh during the opening day of the first red-ball game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the home side was 144/6 in the middle of the second session when Ravichandran Ashwin walked into the middle with the first aim to not get bundled out on the first day.
It was a couple of months ago when the veteran was involved in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) and led his side to the title. One of the highlights of the tournament was how beautifully the right-hander batted with an aggressive mindset.
Akash Chopra praised Ravichandran Ashwin for his batting on the backfoot
The former opening batter of the Indian team, Aakash Chopra, has drawn a comparison between legendary former batter of the national side, VVS Laxman, and Ravichandran Ashwin, for their ability to handle deliveries that come towards the leg with supreme control.
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On a red-soil track that was favoring the Bangladesh bowlers, epically Hasan Mahmud, who found the outside edge of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the first innings and wreaked havoc in the Indian dressing room by removing the top order in quick succession, the need of the hour was to bat with aggression to counter the pacers.
The Chennai-boy decided to dance down the track against the spinners, besides smashing the left-arm spinner, Shakib Al Hasan, around the park at the start of his spell, besides getting full help from Ravindra Jadeja in their seventh wicket partnership, which brought the home side back in the game.
Ravichandran Ashwin launched a fearless attack and kept on playing the shots, along with finding the regular gaps on the leg side, besides taking on the spinners. At the end of the day, the 38-year-old celebrated his sixth century of the format, equaling with the former captain MS Dhoni. It was also his second century of the longest format at this ground, followed by the century he made against England in 2021.
At the end of the day, Aakash Chopra, during his analysis of Jio Cinema, praised the technique and temperament with a calm nature of Ashwin, recalling VVS Laxman, who was renowned for his elegance in shot-making in such situations.
“He lets the ball travel to him, he has only the shots at his disposal when it comes to the back foot. When it comes to his legs, he often reminds me of VVS Laxman.” The Uttar Pradesh-born expressed. “But today, his driving skills, especially bending his knee and hitting a six against spinners. Jadeja was outstanding, but Ashwin deserves a bit more credit for today.”
The last game for Ravichandran Ashwin in international cricket came in March when they faced England in Dharamsala for a Test match. That’s a six-month gap between this game, which is quite light, in comparison with his team-mates, who have been playing the other formats consistently.
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“We were habituated to see him score with the bat, then over some time, we saw a bit of a decline in his batting form. He was also demoted in the batting order.” Akash Chopra delivered. “He is a very organized player. His ability to absorb pressure is there in the foundation of how he plays. The rest of the players have still played in competitive cricket like the T20 World Cup in the build-up to this, but he had only last played in the England Tests.”
Ravichandran Ashwin finished with 113 runs in the first innings at a strike rate of over 80, decorated with 11 boundaries and a couple of over boundaries.