Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin said on Sunday he wanted to keep playing well beyond his 38 years, even as younger teammates scale back their own cricket careers.
Ashwin claimed six wickets and scored 113 with the bat in his hometown of Chennai as India humbled Bangladesh by 280 runs inside four days of the opening Test.
It was his 37th five-wicket haul to go equal with late Australian spin king Shane Warne, behind only Sri Lankan quick Muttiah Muralitharan’s 67.
Ashwin spoke about the challenges of playing and performing at his age.
“It’s not the same like when you are 25, 26, 30 or even 35. Thirty-eight is different,” he told reporters.
“Every bit of work that you put, you have to put doubly hard to earn the right to be there,” he added.
“I want to play as long as I can. Whatever I am today is because of the game and what it has given me. I am deeply indebted to that.”
Ashwin said his age had compelled him to reduce his strength-training regime and find other ways to keep in shape.
“I work differently on my mobility and other aspects of life,” he said. “Do a bit of yoga. It’s good.”
India skipper Rohit Sharma, 35, and star batsman Virat Kohli are scaling back their careers despite being younger than Ashwin.
Both announced their Twenty20 retirement after winning the World Cup in June.
Ashwin has claimed 522 wickets in 101 Tests.
He and fellow bowler Ravindra Jadeja — known as India’s spin twins — shared nine wickets between them to bundle out Bangladesh for 234 in the tourists’ chase of 515.
The two also shared a 199-run seventh-wicket stand to pull India out of trouble from 144-6 to 376 in the first innings.
Ashwin said the left-handed Jadeja, 35, was an inspiration to him.
“He is a rocket on the field. So I envy him. I am jealous of him but totally admire him,” said Ashwin.
“I am comfortable in my skin but totally inspired by what he has done.”
Ashwin entered the 500-wicket club in the 4-1 Test win over England this year and also reached the milestone of 100 Tests.
Jadeja is one away from 300 Test wickets in 73 matches.
Bangladesh arrived fresh from a 2-0 series sweep in Pakistan earlier this month but in India they confronted rivals they had not beaten in their previous 13 attempts.
Winning a Test series in India is considered one of the toughest tasks in cricket and Bangladesh are not the only ones to struggle there.
India have not lost a Test series at home since 2012 and only four defeats in the last decade underline how formidable they have been as hosts.
They have reached the World Test Championship finals and are currently top of the WTC standings.
India captain Rohit Sharma was pleased with the strong start to a season that also includes three home Tests against New Zealand and five in Australia.
“I thought it was a great result, looking at what lies ahead for us,” Rohit said.
“Yes, we’ve been playing after a long time but you’re never out of cricket … It was just about getting together as a group, which we did.
“We came here a week before, we had a good lead up to the test match and then we got the result that we wanted.”
Playing a Test match after more than six months, the only time India looked in discomfort was when their top order wobbled on a lively red-soil strip at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
India’s go-to spinners Ashwin and Jadeja were always going to play a crucial role but few expected it to be with the bat.
Their epic seventh-wicket partnership of 199 in the first innings powered India from a precarious 34-3 to a commanding 376 and control of the game.
In their second innings, Rishabh Pant celebrated his return to Test cricket with a belligerent hundred while Shubman Gill put a first innings duck behind him with an unbeaten century.
Bangladesh managed 149 and 234 with skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (82) waging a lonely, futile war.
Shanto has demanded a better batting display from his team in the second and final test in Kanpur next week but praised the performance of seamers Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana.
“The positive thing is the way Hasan, Taskin and Rana bowled in the first two to three hours. I think it was really impressive,” Shanto said.
India have retained the same squad for the second Test.
