India’s Ashwin “gladly” accepts the pressure

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Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Friday said he was enjoying the pressure of the Bangladesh series after putting India in control of the first Test with his counter-attacking century.

Ashwin, who has taken 516 wickets in his career and is playing in his hometown of Chennai this week, turned hero with the bat, scoring 113 runs in the seventh-wicket stand of 199 runs along with Ravindra Jadeja.

With his sixth Test win, he helped India to 376 from a precarious 144-6 on the first day as he and Jadeja, a left-hander who scored 86, got to grips with Bangladesh's bowling.

The Indian bowlers then bowled out Bangladesh for 149, giving the hosts a lead of 227 in the second innings, but Ashwin's knock stood out.

“As a cricketer, you are proud of your performance,” Ashwin told reporters at the end of the second day's play against India, which saw the score 81-3 and extend his lead to 308 points.

“I enjoy and accept the pressure,” he said.

“As cricketers, we fail more often than we succeed. It's about using past experience to be able to cope with the difficult waters at high tide.”

Ashwin, 38, entered the 500-wicket club in a home series against England this year and also reached the milestone of 100 Tests.

An IT engineer by profession, Ashwin has often come to India's aid as a lower-order batsman and said he takes pride in playing his role as a backstop.

“At the end of the day, you're happy. Every time I do something well, I'm in a good, happy mood. That's why you go on this trip,” he said with a smile.

“You want to be successful. You want to shine on the world stage. People are watching you and you're happy about it.”

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