Well begun is half done! Team India gave what the fans asked for, a ruthless performance to thrash Bangladesh by 280 runs in the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday (September 22).

They showed the resilience and experience of a champion team to come out of the woods on day one and then there was no looking back.

Come, let’s dive in to see how Rohit’s men turned it around in four days.

Ashwin, Jadeja and the gritty partnership

Team India found itself in huge trouble at 144/6 on the first day. But, Ravichandran Ashwin (113 off 133 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (86 off 124) are ranked one and two in ICC’s list of all-rounders in Test cricket for a reason.

Not their first rescue act and surely the last. The pair made the visitors chase leather all day with an excellent partnership of 199. Ashwin was particularly severe, mixing class and mass with panache as India got to 376 in their first essay.

Boom Boom to the fore again

Business as usual for the magician. Boom Boom’s yet another hostile spell (4/50) saw the Bangla batters running for cover. The familiar sight of stumps being blown away was in full flow once again, as Siraj and Akash Deep also picked up two wickets each.

The Chennai crowd became witnesses as our Boom Boom scripted yet another memorable milestone reaching 400 international wickets with the dismissal of Hasan Mahmud and soon India were batting again with a huge first-innings lead of 227 runs.

Young Turks all the way

Now it was the turn of young guns Rishabh Pant (109) and Shubman Gill (119*) to make merry and the weekend crowd was treated to some entertaining stuff. It was as though Spidey was never out of the game, showing off his full repertoire of shots.

Pant’s one-handed slog, the reverse sweep, and the paddle sweep were all on display as the crowd lapped it up. Gill, on the other hand, was class and elegance personified, pulling out big shots effortlessly. Another big partnership of 167 and the target was locked at 515.

Boom triggers, Ash completes the collapse

Well, they started off strong, but it was only a matter of time before our Boom Boom express derailed them, getting Zakir Hasan nicking to gully. And then the Ash show began once more, over three sessions across two days, with six wickets, he gave his home crowd enough reason to go home happy on a Sunday morning.

Right then, we made it 1-0. It’s a long home season, and this extra day of rest is going to come in handy as we come back rejuvenated in Kanpur with a greater degree of dominance. Patlan, let’s complete the sweep, shall we?

Brief scores: India 376 (Ravichandran Ashwin 113, Ravindra Jadeja 86; Hasan Mahmud 5/83) and 287/4d (Shubman Gill 119*, Rishabh Pant 109; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 2/103) BEAT Bangladesh 149 (Shakib Al Hasan 32; Jasprit Bumrah 4/50, Ravindra Jadeja 2/19) and 234 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 82, Ravichandran Ashwin 6/66, Ravindra Jadeja 3/58) by 280 runs