My first experience at Chepauk was watching Sachin Tendulkar – Ravi Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin redefined the opening Test of the two-match series with an all-round performance that saw him hammering a century in the first innings which served as the rescue act, in addition to him clinching six wickets in the fourth innings. Riding high on his magical display, the hosts rampaged over Bangladesh and eventually secured a victory by 280 runs.

In a post-match chat with Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel and Tamil Iqbal, Ashwin narrated a tale of his inspirations, how watching Sachin Tendulkar from the stands of Chepauk stirred in him a wish to be a part of the cricketing frenzy and how the current conditions of the pitch were a boon to his style of wizardry.

Talking about his role, Ashwin said, “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.”

He then shifted his focus to the memories of Chepauk, stating, “Once upon a time this ground was concrete blocks and my first experience was watching from Mac B stand, watching Sachin Tendulkar. 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.”

Ashwin concluded by breaking down his bowling against Bangladesh, stating, “You have to sequence it as a bowler whereas as a batter it's about trusting your game but compartmentalising it has made it easier. [on how he bowled on this pitch] Pace was critical, I was earning my right to bowl slower, this is a surface where one which was reacting was when you go slower. But if you bowl a lot slower, there is time to play you off the back foot. I embrace pressure, I really enjoy being under pressure, I'm thinking like a bowler when I go in to bat. If there's a bowler who is at the backend of the spell, I let it go but otherwise I play shots and transfer the pressure.”