Veteran off-spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin thanked Ravindra Jadeja for helping him get through a phase during their 199-run stand where he was not able to focus much. Ashwin scored his sixth Test century to help India post 376 in the first innings of their current match against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Ashwin (113) and Jadeja (86) shared a partnership for the seventh wicket, which enabled India to go from 144/6 to 376 in their first innings. Additionally, it was Ashwin’s second century in a Test at his home stadium and his fourth century overall in the longer format when batting at number eight.

“When we were playing, there was a good deal of communication and companionship between the two of us. I felt like I wasn’t focused enough at one point throughout the innings, and Jaddu got me through it.

Jaddu’s hitting has been a great source of motivation for me in recent years. He’s been such an inspiration with how he’s adjusted to the game, how he can be consistent, and what excellent game plans he has.”

“He’s a terrific batsman who has hit three hundreds in first-class cricket.” Although it would be very difficult for me to duplicate, it is a genuine feeling of how I can attempt to do so, Ashwin said in a video that was uploaded on bcci.tv on Saturday.

Ashwin currently has two hundred and a fifty-plus score in seven innings at Chepauk. He also gave thanks to the game’s shorter form for helping the Indian side mount a comeback on the first day of play.

“The gamesmanship and batsmanship draw a lot of inspiration from the game’s shorter versions. Thus, you do get the confidence to be able to convert into red-ball cricket when you concentrate on it.

“That’s where age and experience come into play as well; you have to know when to pull all the stops. I’m glad it worked out and that we were able to integrate that collaboration and go deeply into our experiences. We really appreciated it and found it to be pretty important.

When Ashwin reached his century, his father Ravichandran, wife Prithi, and childhood friends were there. The off-spinner remembered the emotion from the century not quite settling in, even though he subsequently saw images of it.

“On the day I received the hundred, my dad was overjoyed.” He was overjoyed. It’s one of your better hits with the bat, he said. Even after seeing video footage, it didn’t really hit home for me as I was leaving. It was a good example of my living in the now and being totally present.

Over the course of the past 101 Test matches, I have found myself in these kinds of situations a few times. I’ve maintained as a cricket player that my bowling interferes with my batting since bowling and batting are two very distinct sports. In fact, I keep emphasizing that these two sports are practically unrelated. Sometimes it gets in the way; hitting is all about just being there, but you do start sequencing six, twelve, and eighteen balls.

A very important aspect is to just be there, remain steadfast in your pursuit of the ball, and see that through to completion as an event. Because every ball is an event, I would want to thank the T20 format very much for that.

“I’ve worked very hard, batted a lot, and realized that I need to keep this all apart. I’m loving and embracing this era of my profession, having learned something new and pushed a little barrier there. Really loving it, but maybe it’s too late,” he said.