That partnership comes with experience – Ravichandran Ashwin on batting with Ravindra Jadeja

It was a blazing masterclass from Ravichandran Ashwin in Chepauk, as the all-rounder hammered his sixth Test century, bailing India out of the immediate ordeal that they found themselves in the first innings against Bangladesh. It was a miraculous partnership between Ashwin and Jadeja that set the tone right and eventually put India back on track.

In a post-match chat with Abhinav Mukund, Parthiv Patel and Tamim Iqbal, Ashwin revealed a few intriguing facts, underlining how he eventually realized that this was his fastest Test century while also heaping praises on Ravindra Jadeja.

Ashwin said, “I figured out as it was coming at a rapid pace. Generally here when you hit the ball it doesn't travel faster, but this was a different pitch, felt like back in the 2010s, what helped was the preparation I put in while playing TNPL. I had a good preparatory camp before TNPL and also had a good finish in the TNPL. That helped me here.”

Underlining the healthy nature of competition that he shared with Ravindra Jadeja, his former teammate at Chennai Super Kings, Ashwin said, “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. 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.”

Ashwin concluded with a heartwarming message for his dad, stating, “He has taken a step back now, he used to kick me out of the house and ask me to play, now he embraces me at home. For me it's about enjoying the game now, the reasons I play the game has changed over the last 5 years, quite an influence my wife has had on me.”