NEW DELHI: Veteran Ravichandran Ashwin delivered an all-round masterclass while swashbuckling Rishabh Pant had an emotional and memorable Test return as India thrashed Bangladesh in just over three days in the series opener in Chennai to go 1-0 up in the 2-game series on Sunday.
Kicking off the new and a gruelling Test season in style, Rohit Sharma and co. were absolutely clinical, securing a massive 280-run win to hand ‘Guru’ Gautam Gambhir his first triumph as a Test coach.
After a long break, India did have a jittery start to the game, but local boy Ashwin (119) first came up with a majestic first innings ton and then weaved his magic with the ball in the fourth innings to hand India a comfortable win.
To go with that, Pant marked his Test return after the 2022 horrific car accident, with a dazzling ton and rising star Shubman Gill too hit a century, making the win a memorable affair at the Chepauk.
The win was India’s 7th in 10 games in the current World Test Championship cycle and saw the hosts achieve quite a few remarkable feats as a team and on individual levels as well.
Here’s a close look at the numbers in India’s clinical win over Bangladesh:
179-178 – India achieved a historic milestone in their 92-year Test cricket history, recording more wins than defeats for the first time. It took 580 Tests for India to achieve a win/loss ratio greater than 1 for the first time. Till date India have drawn 222 Tests.
632 days – Before the Chennai Test, Rishabh Pant had last played Test cricket against Bangladesh in December 2022 in Dhaka before he suffered a horrific car crash forcing him out of action for over one and a half years. After a title-winning run at T20 World Cup earlier this year, Pant made a successful Test comeback at the Chepauk, scoring a superb second innings ton — 109.
Pant at level with MSD – The Rishabh Pant 6th Test ton in Chennai was also special as he helped him level with the legendary MS Dhoni for joint-most centuries by a wicketkeeper-batter for India in the format. While Dhoni managed 6 centuries in 144 innings, Pant did it in just 58.
Ashwin @ 38 – Aging like a fine wine, Ashwin, aged 38 years and 2 days, became the oldest man to claim a fifer for India in the longest format. Before Ashwin, Vinoo Mankad held the record, bagging a fifer aged 37 years and 306 days in 1955 Peshawar Test vs arch-rivals Pakistan.
Oldest for a double – With the fifer in the second innings after a ton with the bat in the first, Ashwin became the oldest player to achieve a double (100 and 5-wicket haul) in the history of men’s Test cricket.
The Chepauk love – Ashwin now has a ton and a fifer in a Test at one venue twice, making him the only cricketer to have such a feat. He had scored a century and had a five-wicket haul against England at Chepauk in 2021 as well.
In elite company – With his 6 for 88, Ashwin reached the milestone of 750 international wickets. He is now only the fourth spinner to achieve this after Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, and Anil Kumble.
Pipping great Walsh – With 6 wickets in the Test, Ashwin moved up to the eighth spot on the all-time leading Test wicket-takers list, surpassing Courtney Walsh’s 519 wickets in the format.
All-round Ash – Ashwin now has a hundred and a fifer in the same Test 4 times. And he is only behind England great Ian Botham, who had achieved the same feat 5 times.
Ashwin at par with Warne – Ashwin bagged his 37th five-wicket haul in Tests, helping him tie with spin great Shane Warne for joint second-most fifers in the format. The only one ahead of Ashwin is Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who has 67 five-wicket hauls.
Fourth-innings fifers – Ashwin now has 7 five-fors in the fourth-innings, the joint-second most, alongside Warne and Muralidaran.
Most wickets in fourth innings – As Ashwin claimed a six-for on Sunday, he surpassed Anil Kumble on the list of most wickets by an Indian in the fourth innings. Ashwin now has 99 fourth-innings wickets while Kumble has 94. Bishan Bedi bagged 60 while Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja are joint-fourth on the list.
Jaddu climbs up on the all-rounders’ list – Ravindra Jadeja now has a 50-plus score and five or more wickets in a Test 12 times. Ian Botham did it 16 times in the format while Shakib Al Hasan and Ashwin have done the same on 11 occasions.
A low for Shakib – At 37, star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan logged his most expensive bowling figures in his Test career, leaking 129 runs in 21 overs while failing to take a single wicket across two innings. It was the fifth time in his career that he went wicketless in a Test match after bowling at least 20 overs.
17-wicket day – The second day of the Test saw the fall of a staggering 17 wickets, which is now the most at the Chepauk. In the 1979 Test between India and West Indies, Day 3 of the Chepauk Test saw a fall of 15 wickets. In the 2021 India vs England Test, Day 2 and Day 4 also saw the fall of 15 wickets respectively.
1094 – India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal is now fourth on the list of batters with most runs after first 10 Tests. Australia’s Don Bradman had scored 1446 runs while Everton Weekes (West Indies) and George Headley (West Indies) scored 1125 and 1102 runs respectively after the first 10 Tests. For India, the record was previously held by Sunil Gavaskar — 978 runs.
Kohli vs spin since 2021 – Virat Kohli scored 6 and 17 in the two innings of the Chepauk Test and now has 18 dismissals vs spinners since 2021 in Tests. He has 499 runs at an average of 27.72.
Kicking off the new and a gruelling Test season in style, Rohit Sharma and co. were absolutely clinical, securing a massive 280-run win to hand ‘Guru’ Gautam Gambhir his first triumph as a Test coach.
After a long break, India did have a jittery start to the game, but local boy Ashwin (119) first came up with a majestic first innings ton and then weaved his magic with the ball in the fourth innings to hand India a comfortable win.
To go with that, Pant marked his Test return after the 2022 horrific car accident, with a dazzling ton and rising star Shubman Gill too hit a century, making the win a memorable affair at the Chepauk.
The win was India’s 7th in 10 games in the current World Test Championship cycle and saw the hosts achieve quite a few remarkable feats as a team and on individual levels as well.
Here’s a close look at the numbers in India’s clinical win over Bangladesh:
179-178 – India achieved a historic milestone in their 92-year Test cricket history, recording more wins than defeats for the first time. It took 580 Tests for India to achieve a win/loss ratio greater than 1 for the first time. Till date India have drawn 222 Tests.
632 days – Before the Chennai Test, Rishabh Pant had last played Test cricket against Bangladesh in December 2022 in Dhaka before he suffered a horrific car crash forcing him out of action for over one and a half years. After a title-winning run at T20 World Cup earlier this year, Pant made a successful Test comeback at the Chepauk, scoring a superb second innings ton — 109.
Pant at level with MSD – The Rishabh Pant 6th Test ton in Chennai was also special as he helped him level with the legendary MS Dhoni for joint-most centuries by a wicketkeeper-batter for India in the format. While Dhoni managed 6 centuries in 144 innings, Pant did it in just 58.
Ashwin @ 38 – Aging like a fine wine, Ashwin, aged 38 years and 2 days, became the oldest man to claim a fifer for India in the longest format. Before Ashwin, Vinoo Mankad held the record, bagging a fifer aged 37 years and 306 days in 1955 Peshawar Test vs arch-rivals Pakistan.
Oldest for a double – With the fifer in the second innings after a ton with the bat in the first, Ashwin became the oldest player to achieve a double (100 and 5-wicket haul) in the history of men’s Test cricket.
The Chepauk love – Ashwin now has a ton and a fifer in a Test at one venue twice, making him the only cricketer to have such a feat. He had scored a century and had a five-wicket haul against England at Chepauk in 2021 as well.
In elite company – With his 6 for 88, Ashwin reached the milestone of 750 international wickets. He is now only the fourth spinner to achieve this after Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, and Anil Kumble.
Pipping great Walsh – With 6 wickets in the Test, Ashwin moved up to the eighth spot on the all-time leading Test wicket-takers list, surpassing Courtney Walsh’s 519 wickets in the format.
All-round Ash – Ashwin now has a hundred and a fifer in the same Test 4 times. And he is only behind England great Ian Botham, who had achieved the same feat 5 times.
Ashwin at par with Warne – Ashwin bagged his 37th five-wicket haul in Tests, helping him tie with spin great Shane Warne for joint second-most fifers in the format. The only one ahead of Ashwin is Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan, who has 67 five-wicket hauls.
Fourth-innings fifers – Ashwin now has 7 five-fors in the fourth-innings, the joint-second most, alongside Warne and Muralidaran.
Most wickets in fourth innings – As Ashwin claimed a six-for on Sunday, he surpassed Anil Kumble on the list of most wickets by an Indian in the fourth innings. Ashwin now has 99 fourth-innings wickets while Kumble has 94. Bishan Bedi bagged 60 while Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja are joint-fourth on the list.
Jaddu climbs up on the all-rounders’ list – Ravindra Jadeja now has a 50-plus score and five or more wickets in a Test 12 times. Ian Botham did it 16 times in the format while Shakib Al Hasan and Ashwin have done the same on 11 occasions.
A low for Shakib – At 37, star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan logged his most expensive bowling figures in his Test career, leaking 129 runs in 21 overs while failing to take a single wicket across two innings. It was the fifth time in his career that he went wicketless in a Test match after bowling at least 20 overs.
17-wicket day – The second day of the Test saw the fall of a staggering 17 wickets, which is now the most at the Chepauk. In the 1979 Test between India and West Indies, Day 3 of the Chepauk Test saw a fall of 15 wickets. In the 2021 India vs England Test, Day 2 and Day 4 also saw the fall of 15 wickets respectively.
1094 – India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal is now fourth on the list of batters with most runs after first 10 Tests. Australia’s Don Bradman had scored 1446 runs while Everton Weekes (West Indies) and George Headley (West Indies) scored 1125 and 1102 runs respectively after the first 10 Tests. For India, the record was previously held by Sunil Gavaskar — 978 runs.
Kohli vs spin since 2021 – Virat Kohli scored 6 and 17 in the two innings of the Chepauk Test and now has 18 dismissals vs spinners since 2021 in Tests. He has 499 runs at an average of 27.72.