"R Ashwin scoring a century on his home ground was a great moment" - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar believes R Ashwin will take immense pride in having scored a Test century at his home ground Chepauk.

R Ashwin played a 106-run knock in India's second innings of the ongoing Chennai Test against England. This was his fifth century in the longest format of the game but the first at his home venue.

While reviewing the third day's proceedings on Star Sports, Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that a player gets great joy when he achieves a milestone on the ground where he came up the ranks.

"R Ashwin scoring a century on his home ground was a great moment. When you play on any ground in India, it is your home ground. But the ground on which you started your career as a kid and where your friends and family saw you grow, when you score runs or take wickets on that ground it is a different type of happiness," said Gavaskar.

The former Indian skipper observed R Ashwin's celebrations after reaching the century was ample proof of the significance of the landmark.

"The way he celebrated showed that he was very happy. He has scored four hundreds before this but this was on his actual home ground which was very good for him, for the cricket lovers in Chennai and he took the England target to more than 450 runs," added Gavaskar.

A moment to cherish forever! @ashwinravi99 gets his Test💯 in Chennai and Md. Siraj erupts in joy. The dressing room stands up to applaud.🙌🏾 #TeamIndia #INDvENG @paytm pic.twitter.com/ykrBhsiTbl

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 15, 2021

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"R Ashwin walked the talk today" - Sunil Gavaskar

R Ashwin took the attack to the England bowlers

Sunil Gavaskar lauded R Ashwin's shot selection and especially the way he employed the sweep shot.

"His shot selection was the standout thing about his innings. His shot selection while playing the sweep was very good because it is a shot which gives great benefit when played well. There is a risk associated to the sweep and hook shot because if it does not come properly on the bat, the ball can go up and you can be dismissed," said Gavaskar.

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by saying that R Ashwin put his words from the previous day's press conference into action.

"Apart from the sweep, the way he was going back in the crease to cut and pull, it showed that he used his bowling brains in his batting. He knew as a bowler how the batsman should not bat and he was batting according to that. He said in yesterday's press conference that one needs to show a little patience here and he walked the talk today," Gavaskar signed off.

They - Pitch is naat good for batting,nno way can bat on thees.Ashwin- pic.twitter.com/QnEYBkrQbO

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) February 15, 2021

R Ashwin walked into bat when India were reduced to a score of 106/6 in their second innings. He strung together a 96-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Virat Kohli to all but end the visitors' slim hopes of getting a positive result from this encounter.