What happened the last time India played a Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai?
India take on Bangladesh in the first of the two-match Test series between the two nations at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai from Thursday, September 19. The second Test will be played in Kanpur from September 27.
The visitors come into this series on the back of a historic series win in Pakistan, defeating the latter by a 2-0 scoreline, breaking the duck they had against the Shaheens.
India, quite naturally, will not take Bangladesh lightly in this series even as this Test kickstarts their home season. A lot of things are still in flux as it will be new head coach Gautam Gambhir's first Test in charge as well.
Bangladesh have a lot of top-quality spinners in their ranks led by the experienced Shakib Al Hasan, who flew in directly from England where he was playing for Surrey after the Pakistan series.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam have been around the ranks long enough to have learnt a trick or two, and the former's capabilities with the bat in hand will not have gone unnoticed by the Indian video analysts.
The track at Chepauk is bound to offer a lot of spin, and both teams are expected to load up heavily on specialists who can give them an advantage. India have Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and hometown hero Ravichandran Ashwin to bank upon.
The hosts have a stellar track record at this venue, having won 15 out of the 34 Tests that they have played here. Most importantly, they have lost just seven matches here, drawing 11 and tying the famous game against Australia in 1986.
India beat England by 317 runs the last time they played in Chennai
The last time India played at the Chepauk stadium was in 2021 when England visited the country for a series. It will interest our readers to note that India played two consecutive Tests in Chennai in that series, followed by another two in Ahmedabad.
The first and second Tests were played in Chennai. In the second Test, the hosts put up 329 runs on the board in the first innings thanks to Rohit Sharma's 161, after England beat them comprehensively in the first at the same venue.
Half-centuries from Ajinkya Rahane (67) and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (58) added to India's total even as off-spinner Moeen Ali finished with four wickets to his name (4-128).
In response, hometown hero Ashwin spun a web against the English batters and bowled them out for a measly 134, handing India a massive lead. The Tamil Nadu offie returned with 5-43 after opening the bowling with Ishant Sharma.
India batted moderately well in their second innings and ended with 286 runs on the board as Ashwin starred with the bat this time with a spectacular century (106) to take the game away from the visitors.
Jack Leach (4-100) and Moeen Ali (4-96) did their best to control the damage, but it was too late by then, and India were already in the driving seat. England hardly put up a challenge in the second innings to get bowled out for 164.
Axar Patel, who opened the bowling alongside Ishant this time, returned with 5-60 while Ashwin chipped in with a handy 3-53. India won the Test by a gargantuan margin of 317 runs and would go on to win the other two Tests to take the series 3-1.