Bangladesh’s top ten moments against India-1

Bangladeshi batsman Aminul Islam raises his hands in prayers to thank Allah after he hit a century on November 11, 2000 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on the second day of Bangladesh’s inaugural Test match against India. Photo: AFP

Ask the legendary batsman himself and he will narrate the tale as though it had taken place just yesterday.

"I remember having tears in my eyes after scoring that century," an emotional Aminul told The Daily Star a few months ago during a chat regarding those golden days.

"I never thought I would have managed to score a century. And to have reached that figure against India in the very first Test… not that was a phenomenal feeling," he added.

It was one of the most patient knocks ever played by a Bangladeshi cricketer. He gritted it out at the crease for close to nine hours and helped Bangladesh surpass the magical total of 400.

Bangladesh might have lost the plot of the Test towards the end, but in the first three days of that Test, India didn't know what had hit them.

Expecting a mere walk in the park, the Indian players did get a bit restless when Aminul stood up for the Tigers. There was plenty of sledging as well.

"I recall [Javagal] Srinath telling us that it would only be a matter of time before we collapsed. Sourav Ganguly told me to reach my century as soon as possible because they were going to go for the new ball," recalled Aminul.

But of course, the middle-order batsman overcame all that to bat his way to one of the highest scores by a Bangladeshi in Test cricket. More than the figure, it was the entire scenario that made this particular moment so memorable.

Here was a team, devoid of a proper first-class structure and a professional set-up; that was taking its baby steps into the world of Test cricket against one of the most experienced line-ups in international cricket.

It won't be an understatement to place this innings next to the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim's 200 or Tamim Iqbal's 206, for it required immense dedication for Aminul to overcome all that anxiety.

Unfortunately, the print media couldn't cover Aminul's century. November 11 was a public holiday for Shab-e-Barat and no newspapers were published the following day.

However, the enormity of the event was as such that a number of sports reporters joined hands to come out with a special publication dedicated to century.