Rohit Sharma heaped praise on the depth and variety of his bowling unit following India’s dominant 280-run win over Bangladesh in the first Test in Chennai. Returning to the format after a gap of six months proved to be no deterrent for India, who found different routes to success in the two innings. While the fast bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah called the shots in the first innings, bowling the visitors out for just 149, R. Ashwin returned to form in the second, adding a six-fer to his first-innings century.
“No matter what the conditions are, whether we play in India, whether we play outside, we want to build the team around [bowling],” Rohit said after the comprehensive victory. “Whatever the condition has to offer, we got to be ready for it. In the last few years, wherever we have played, we have managed to have that in our arsenal, whether it is seam bowling options or spin bowling options. You have to give the guys credit. Whenever there is a responsibility, they never shy away from it and they want to put their hand up and get the job done for the team.”
Chennai presented a different challenge to the bowlers in that it was a red-soil wicket with good pace and bounce over the first two days of the Test. The spinners, who took only five of the first 24 wickets to fall in the Test match, had to adapt and find a way to be successful before turn and bounce became a staple on the final day. While Rohit emphasized the importance of being patient with both bat and ball, Ashwin, who took a six-fer in the fourth innings while conceding at over four runs an over, offered a more detailed breakdown of the pitch’s unique characteristics.
“Look, I think on this pitch, even if you bowl good balls, you will go for runs. But the bounce is going to be quite daunting,” Ashwin explained. “We have lost a lot of red soil pitches over the years, which was a key component of playing Test cricket in India. The beauty of red soil is that if you put revs on it, there is value, and there is bounce. You will get hit, but there is bounce.
“You play on some black clay surfaces around the country, without naming them, and you have to do a lot of hard work. Put in a lot of revs and sometimes see nothing come out of it. And sometimes, it’s better to not put revs on it in certain places. To even understand all these things, to begin to understand and talk about it, is a fair amount of learning for me. It’s happened over the years. Like I said, this pitch’s got solid bounce. I would anyway play on a surface like this and get hit rather than play on another surface.”
Ashwin continued, talking about the variety of playing conditions in India.
. “The beauty of playing on good surfaces like this, sometimes around the country… people do mistake terming India as a whole. I actually think India has a lot of foreign soil. You go to Ranchi, it doesn’t feel like home. You sometimes go to Eden, it doesn’t feel like home. You go to Dharamsala, all of a sudden, it doesn’t feel like home. And for some wild reason, people don’t seem to assimilate this. Because the nature of soil is different, the weather is different. Different times of the year. It’s not a country like Australia where every Boxing Day Test match happens at Melbourne. We don’t do that. Pongal Test doesn’t happen in Chennai. So, the surfaces react very differently at different times of the year.”
Meanwhile, the Indian captain also commended Rishabh Pant, who marked his return to the format with a century after missing 14 straight Tests due to injuries sustained in a car crash in December 2022. “He’s been through some really tough times. The way he has managed himself through those tough times was superb to watch,” Rohit said. “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 he is going to do with the bat; we always knew what he had with the bat and with the gloves as well. It was just about giving him the game time. Credit to him as well, he went on to play the Duleep Trophy, got ready for this Test match, and had an impact straight away in the game.”
India looks ahead with confidence, bolstered by their deep and versatile bowling attack, as well as the stellar return of key players like Rishabh Pant. The collective efforts have clearly set a high bar for upcoming challenges, both at home and away.