'Inspired by Rishabh Pant': R Ashwin reveals motivation behind dominant ton in India vs Bangladesh Test

As Ravichandran Ashwin strode confidently to the crease for India on Day 1 of the thrilling first Test match against Bangladesh in Chennai, the atmosphere was tense. With India's top order crumbling and the scoreboard showing a disheartening 144/6, all eyes were on the seasoned 38-year-old spinner. But Ashwin, undeterred by the situation, had a master plan brewing in his mind.

Fast forward to Stumps, India posted 339/6 in 80 overs, with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja remaining unbeaten. Ashwin smacked 102* off 112 balls at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, in front of his home crowd, and also clattering 10 fours and two sixes. Meanwhile, Jadeja hammered an unbeaten knock of 86* runs off 117 balls.

Speaking after the final session on Thursday, Ashwin revealed that his approach was inspired by Rishabh Pant's usual batting style. "Worked on a few things and on a surface like this with a bit of spice, if you're going after the ball, might as well go after it really hard like Rishabh does. It's an old Chennai surface with a bit of bounce and carry. The red soil pitch allows you to play a few shots if you are willing to just get in line and give it a bit of a tonk when there's width," he said.

Over the past year, Ashwin has been putting in extra work on his batting. He even travelled to Seattle to study baseball mechanism in both bat and ball.

Predicting the pitch's behaviour for Day 2, Ashwin said, "It's a typical, old-fashioned Chennai pitch where overspin will fetch a bit of bounce. The wicket will start doing its tricks much later in the game. There's enough in it for the quicks, good carry, good bounce if we present the seam nice and hard. The new ball will do a bit, there'll be some help for the bowlers, we'll have to start afresh tomorrow. There's a bit in the pitch, it's still damp underneath, so hopefully as it dries out, it quickens up."