Team India skipper Rohit Sharma heaped praise on Ravichandran Ashwin for his exceptional all-round performance in the first Test against Bangladesh at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. Ashwin’s match-winning ton and fifer earned him the Player of the Match award.
With the bat, Ashwin played a crucial knock of 113 runs from 133 balls, hitting 11 boundaries and two maximums. His innings helped India post a formidable total of 404 runs in the first innings.
With the ball, Ashwin was equally impressive, bagging six wickets in his spell of 21 overs. He conceded 88 runs and played a key role in restricting Bangladesh to 150 runs in their first innings.
Rohit Sharma lauded Ashwin’s contributions, saying, “He’s next in line to talk to you, he’s the right man to answer what he does. Every time we look up to him, he’s always there for us whether with the bat or ball. I don’t know if I speak here, it’ll be enough of what he does for this team. Every time we see him come out and do the job, it’s always so brilliant. He’s never out of the game.”
Rohit also spoke about wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who made a successful return to Test cricket after two years. Pant played a crucial knock of 109 runs in the second innings, helping India set a target of 513 runs for Bangladesh.
“He’s been through some really tough times. The way he has managed himself through those tough times was superb to watch. He came back in the IPL, followed by a very successful World Cup and this is the format he loves the most. For us, it was never about what is he going to do with the bat, we always knew what he had with the bat and with the gloves as well,” Rohit said.
“It was just about giving him the game time. Credit to him as well, he went on to play Duleep Trophy and got ready for this Test match and had an impact straightaway in the game. No matter what the conditions are, whether we play in India, whether we play outside, we want to build the team around that (strong bowling),” the opener added.
