Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons Ashwin’s ability to play the ball late and hit the good balls for boundaries put Bangladesh’s bowlers off-guard on the opening day of the first Test match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Thursday.

Ashwin joined forces with Ravindra Jadeja when India was tottering at 144-6 however the right-hander was able to hit the ground running as he timed the ball with perfection at his home ground. Ashwin scored an unbeaten knock of 102 runs, which is his sixth Test century.

Ashwin added an unbroken alliance of 195 runs with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored a fine unbeaten knock of 86 before draw of stumps.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “The most important thing is Ashwin’s gift as a batter. I see the bowlers being shell shocked because they are bowling so well – good lengths, right areas. Then, Ashwin comes in and they do the same thing and that ball gets punished for four. Not once, but three, four, five times. That puts them off.”

“He’s got such beautiful hands, plays the ball late. One of the very few flag-bearers of this generation, who plays a lot on the back foot and plays the ball late. All those things combined got us to witness a wonderful innings,” Manjrekar added.

Manjrekar also lauded Ravindra Jadeja, who has continued his purple patch in Test cricket. Jadeja stayed solid from the other end when Ashwin was taking more risks.

“He’s been amazingly consistent with the bat over the last few years. Not just in India, he got a hundred in England as well. When you see him bat now, it seems like he has actually mastered his own approach to batting. He is happy to grind without even looking like he is grinding. This is a batter who has worked out his approach. He knows his batting well.”

Jadeja and Ashwin will look to add more runs for India on the second day’s play after the hosts ended the opening day at 339-6.