Mushfiqur Rahim has become only the 11th batsman in the 148-year history of Test cricket to score a century in his 100th Test.
He reached the rare milestone on day-2 of the second and final Test against visiting Ireland at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka on Thursday (20 November).
On the morning of 19 November, Mushfiqur made history by becoming the first Bangladeshi player, and the 84th overall, to appear in 100 Test matches when he took the field against Ireland.
After remaining not out for 99 overnight, Mushfiqur did not take much time to reach his 13th Test hundred in career spanning over 20 years.
Debuting at Lord’s in 2005, Mushfiqur’s journey is a testament to his perseverance and resilience. Now he has reached another summit—one that even many of cricket’s greatest legends could not scale.
Three Englishmen, two Australians, two South Africans, two Pakistanis, and one West Indian have previously scored a century in their 100th Test.
The first batter to achieve this feat was England’s MC Cowdrey, who struck 104 against Australia in 1968. Twenty-one years later, Pakistan great Javed Miandad scored 145 against archrivals India in 1989. West Indies legend Gordon Greenidge followed with a century against England in 1990.
England’s Alec Stewart, Pakistan’s Inzamam-ul-Haq, Australia’s Ricky Ponting, South Africa’s Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla, England’s Joe Root, and Australia’s David Warner are the other names etched into this elite club.
Australian legend Ricky Ponting deserves special mention as the only batter to score two centuries in his 100th Test; he made 120 and an unbeaten 143 against South Africa in his hundredth Test in 2006.
Mushfiqur still has the chance to replicate this rarest feat in Mirpur, with his second-innings batting yet to come.