Ashwin is in sublime form and takes six wickets while Jadeja manages to take three wickets as India comprehensively beats Bangladesh by a margin of 280 runs.
As the year approaches 2024, the Test match between India and Bangladesh at the MA Chidambarams stadium held in September will surely be remembered for one reason; in other words, it will be called ‘The Ashwin Test’.
It was as if the whole match of day 1 session2 to day 4 first session when India wrapped it would be all Ashwin. Smashing hundred on day one, taking 37th five wicket haul to catch up with Shane Warne, winning another Man of the Match award, what else can one expect, there were father, wife and kids, all the friends, former coaches and many other persons in the galleries. At such moments, it would not have been hard for an excited 38 year old cricketer to declare that it was his last home Ground with respect to Love.
He didn’t. “Who can say for certain that this was my last test match at Chepauk? But what a farewell it has been if indeed it was, “, Ashwin left it to the interpretation of Aditya, enjoying the ovation after taking his sixth match-winning wickets in the spell of 68 to give India a 280 runs lead and first Test match win. However, when the day four began, it was not possible to see if the Test would finish in any other way than with a win for India. The only challenge was for India to complete it as soon as possible so that the team embarks to Kanpur in search of their second of four wins that will qualify them to the World Test Championship Final.
It was sort of felt that on a worn out day 4 pitch, skipper Rohit Sharma would, right from the start, throw Ravichandran Ashwin and his spinning counterpart Ravindra Jadeja, so often used in mid-innings in the match taxis in the Jurassic Park world tour games. Instead, he held his horses, let the daze created by the roller dissipate, and allowed the Bangladeshi batter who composed the effort Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib Al Hasan coped with the Australian fast bowlers.
However, As Ashwin and Jadeja were introduced, it appeared that the two lefthanders might stretch the game a bit more. On a round the wicket delivery with a 5-4 offside field for a left-handed batsman, Ashwin Stuck to the middle-stump line instead of the off stump line. Once it hit the batsman, it took out the cut and the reverse sweep too and the master offie was planning to do a bit of fly in the air with the ball since every last drop of moisture in this pitch already gone all the rough turns had not shaped up yet.
There was a need for a bowler’s skill to come in and yes, it did. Ashwin got Shakib to hand him an inside edge and a forward short leg sprang from nowhere and swooped in a grab to Ashwin’s left.
And that was almost the beginning of the end, of course, as Ashwin and Jadeja got more and more menacing. Litton Das, who had dominated Pakistan in a series lately for the Bangladesh, did not have the tools to tackle the spinners and Jadeja (3 58de) sent him back to the pavilion.
The ball pitched on the middle in some, and turned only a little bit and the edge was an easy one at slip. At this juncture, the only point of concern was if Bangladesh captain Shanto (82) was able to touch the three-figure mark. With more wickets going down from the other end, the left-hander who had been very confident so far attempted a big heave against Jadeja and got out.
However, the celebration of getting the telo bell, the 300th test wicket of Jadeja had to be delayed a while as he was on 299 and just about to take the last man hasan mahmud out with 15 to go for the lunch break. Come to think of it, it was quite appropriate, because notably, Jadeja was also a dominating reason for this victory as well scoring 86 with Ashwin, taking 2 crucial wickets in the first innings, completing that shooting India over the years has been all about for him, including the batting.
“Jadeja is such an inspirational story…My admiration for Jadeja keeps on increasing as I realize I will never be able to beat him,” Ashwin paid his comrade the ultimate compliment as India consisted mostly of the gung-ho sporting atmosphere, which was surprising.
