Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja put an unbeaten 195-run partnership in the seventh wicket that hurt Bangladesh on the opening day of the first Test in Chennai on Thursday.
The hosts recovered from 144-6 to a much more comfortable 339-6, thanks to Ashwin鈥檚 102 not out and Jadeja鈥檚 unbeaten 86.
After being sent to bat by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto on a cloudy morning in Chennai, India found themselves in a spot of bother when Hasan Mahmud ripped through their top order.
He took all of the first four Indian wickets under 100 runs on both sides of the lunch break.聽聽
India lost crucial wickets of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli inside the first hour of the game. All of them were the victims of Hasan, who bowled superbly on a bowling friendly condition.
After surviving an early DRS call from Bangladesh, Rohit caught at second slip off Hasan. The Bangladesh pacer set the Indian captain up nicely after variations of inswing and outswings.聽
Gill, whose last innings was a century, was strangled down the leg by Hasan to be dismissed for a duck.聽
Bowling seven straight overs, Hasan鈥檚 next wicket was the big one. Kohli walked in to loud cheers, but the noise soon stopped when the former captain edged a length delivery outside the off-stump from Hasan to wicketkeeper Liton Das.
It was a disappointing outing for Kohli after missing his team鈥檚 4-1 home series win over England in March due to the birth of his second child.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made 56, put on a 62-run partnership with fellow left-hander Rishabh Pant to get some momentum into the Indian innings.
Hasan broke the stand in the third over after lunch when wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who is playing his first Test after a serious 2022 car crash, was caught behind off a loose shot. He made 39 with six boundaries after being sent ahead of KL Rahul.聽
Jaiswal fell to Bangladesh鈥檚 new pace sensation Nahid Rana. Spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz then took down Rahul for 16 as Zakir Hasan took a fine catch in the short leg. India lost both Jaiswal and Rahul with the score on 144.
But Bangladesh found no more joy as the two spin bowling all-rounders saw out the final session.
Ashwin, the local boy, whose father was in the stand, reached his sixth Test ton in 108 balls with 12 boundaries, removing his helmet and raising his hands to soak in the crowd鈥檚 cheers. Jadeja also hit 12 boundaries in his 117-ball innings.聽
Their partnership of 195 runs currently stands second for seventh wicket against Bangladesh.聽
Bangladesh, who are playing with three seamers, only managed to bowl 80 overs even after the play was extended by half an hour.
Shakib Al Hasan, who was brought into bowling only after the 52nd over for the first time in the innings, remained wicketless in his first eight overs, costing 50 runs.聽
India are looking to extend their lead at the top of the World Test Championship table as they begin a fresh Test season of 10 matches.
On the other hand, Bangladesh, who are fresh from beating Pakistan 2-0, are seeking more history.