It will be a moment of happiness tinged with nervousness for former Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar as he transcends un-charted territory for a Bangladesh international by playing in his 50th Test match today.
The most successful Bangladesh Test batsman, who has more than 3,000 runs under his belt including three hundreds and 24 fifties, is now in a critical juncture in his career as another forlorn show could jeopardise his place in the Test team after his omission from the one-day side.
The number three was once a fixture in the side, earning himself the nickname of “Mr Fifty” for consistently reaching the fifty run mark.
Things are however a far cry from those heydays for the 35-year old Bashar but the man wants to take inspiration from his maiden Test against India, also the inaugural Test for Bangladesh.
“I believe whatever I have achieved so far is only because of that particular innings of mine in the inaugural match against India. There was lot of pressure on me but ultimately, that innings established me as a batsman and gave me the much-needed confidence,” Bashar recalled his 71-run knock in the first innings in 2000.
“It’s a great feeling that I am going to play my 50th Test match. I missed only two Tests for my country because of injury. At the start of my career I never thought that I would come this far,” he said.
Bashar was not worried with his recent bad form as he believes that one big score will change everything.
“I just need a big score and I believe it will happen in this match. I have been working on my batting and in some technical points,” he informed.