• Source:JND
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India vs Bangladesh 1st Test: One of the key architects of India's victory in the first Test, veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin described his match-clinching century in Chennai against Bangladesh as a "special innings."

This century marked his sixth in Test cricket and second at his home ground, Chepauk. Ashwin's outstanding performance earned him the Player of the Match award.

Ashwin's impactful century and six-wicket haul sealed India's 280-run victory in the Chennai Test. The key 199-run partnership with Jadeja helped India recover from 144/6 to post a competitive 376 in the first innings.

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The star player looked back on his early Test career, admitting the pressure factor of succeeding Harbhajan Singh in the Indian squad.

“I can’t really comment on what sort of impact I have had on this Test match. I had huge shoes to fill, I came in to replace Harbhajan, I used to replicate his action in junior cricket, he was an inspiration to me. Constantly people have doubted if I could deliver in red-ball as I came from IPL, lots of people have come and helped me. Once upon a time this ground was concrete blocks and my first experience was watching from Mac B stand, watching Sachin Tendulkar," Ashwin said in a post-match presentation.

“One day I wanted to be on this particular ground and play. My first IPL contract was given here, some energy pulls me into this ground, I don’t know how much longer but I love coming back here. I don’t want to go thinking I want to get a 100, I want to get a fifer though,” he added.

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Ashwin had higher praise for his fellow all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and termed him as one of India's top batters while acknowledging their on-field competition.

 “There might have been competition in the past, the last 4-5 years, you can call it maturity or age or getting old, there is a lot of understanding on what kind of bowling you need to do on a certain day. He is one of the best batters in the Indian team, maybe even in the world, he is a trusted batter, Jadeja walking out gives a lot of calmness to the team. He helped me a lot through my innings,” Ashwin said.

“He told me, looks like you are batting really well, you need to buckle down like you are facing your first 10 balls, talking about leaving a few more balls. That partnership comes with experience and batting a lot together,” the star all-rounder further added.