Ashwin hits first Test ton in three years to lift India to a dominant position 

IND v BAN, 1st Test, Scorecard

Three years since his last Test hundred, which also came at the very same venue, Ravichandran Ashwin cracked his sixth Test hundred to lift India from the gloom on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh.

With the century, Ashwin equalled MS Dhoni's career tally of six Test centuries, achieving the same in two innings lesser than the legendary former captain.

Batting at No.8, Ashwin now has four Test centuries, the most for anyone after Daniel Vettori, who has five.

Ashwin also now has 20 scores of fifty or more in Tests, three more than Sir Richard Hadlee, while recording the same number of five-wicket hauls as him in the format (36 five-wicket hauls), underlining his status as one of the format's greatest all-rounders.

Watch Ashwin flaunt his flick at the ICC World Test Championship Final in 2021

Opting to bowl first, Bangladesh had India on their haunches after a terrific opening spell from Hasan Mahmud, who accounted for Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli early on.

Mahmud also sent back Rishabh Pant to snare his fourth before India lost a couple more quick wickets. At 144/6, the onus was on the all-rounder duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin to save India and they did so in spectacular fashion.

Ranked No.1 and No.2 in the ICC Men's Test all-rounder rankings, Jadeja and Ashwin stitched together an unbeaten 195-run stand to take India to stumps with the score reading 339/6.

This is now the highest partnership for the seventh wicket or lower on day one of a Test match. If the duo add five more runs on day two to the partnership, they will be just the eighth pair to record a 200-run stand for the seventh wicket or lower for India in men's Tests.

ICC Men's Test All-Rounder Rankings

Ashwin's last Test hundred came at the same venue against England in 2021. Like in this Test, Ashwin then saved India from a tricky situation in the second innings. Walking in at 86/5, Ashwin made 106 to help India to a fighting total.

In seven innings at this venue in Tests, Ashwin now has two hundreds and another fifty-plus score.

With good bounce and carry, India struggled early on against the new ball on the track, but Ashwin stated that he liked batting on the pitch.

"On a surface like this, it's better to go hard like Rishabh [Pant] does," Ashwin told Ravi Shastri at the end of the day's play.

"It's an old-school Chennai surface with bounce and carry. When there is width, you can give it a tonk. Jadeja was of real help, there was a point where I was sweating and tiring but Jaddu helped me through that phase. He's been solid and one of our best batters in the last few years. He told me we don't have to convert twos into threes, which helped me immensely."