Former India wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik lavished praise on all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for their performance on Day 1 of the 1st Test match against Bangladesh at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Ashwin (102 not out) and Jadeja (86 not out) put together a remarkable unbroken seventh-wicket partnership, scoring 195 runs in 174 minutes off 225 balls. This impressive stand followed a challenging period for India, who had slumped to 144 for six after young pacer Hasan Mahmud's impressive performance of 4 for 58, despite Yashasvi Jaiswal's solid contribution of 56.
Ashwin utilized his deep understanding of the home ground and the prevailing conditions to counter the effective Bangladesh bowling attack. He started his innings with a strong backfoot punch for four and never looked back. Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was highly impressed by the duo, highlighting that their shared experience allowed them to effectively navigate the challenging period upon their arrival at the crease.
“The way they played was outstanding. The experience they have, the way they started, the kind of shots Ashwin played, the backfoot punch first up... Jadeja going over mid-on and getting boundaries. (These are) small things, (they) understand how Test cricket works,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
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Dinesh Karthik for Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja's retirement
Karthik reckoned that people will value them more when they will retire from the sport. Jadeja have already announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game and Ashwin played his last white ball game against Australia during India's ODI World Cup 2023 opener clash.
“Yes, the opponent is throwing punches, but it's your time to throw a couple of them yourself and then wait because they will disintegrate at some point and allow things to happen. When that happened, they came in with singles and odd boundaries, got to their milestones and got a lot more comfortable. Then they went on to play superb shots. What a set of all-rounders we have. We have Axar Patel not playing, and understandably so. Sometimes I feel people value only when they're not around anymore, and these two people will be valued a lot more when they're done. Hopefully that's not anytime soon. We all speak about all-rounders, and these two have been phenomenal for India,” said Karthik.
Ashwin and Jadeja entered an esteemed group of Indian batting pairs, alongside Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani, becoming only the third pair to surpass 500 partnership runs for the seventh wicket or lower in Tests at home. This marked the second occasion they combined for over 100 runs, having previously put together a 130-run partnership against Sri Lanka in Mohali.
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