Amidst chants and early nerves, Mushfiqur notches a special ton

Chants of 'Mushfiqur hundred, Mushfiqur hundred' went up across the stadium even before the first delivery had been bowled on day two of the second Test between Bangladesh and Ireland on Thursday. It gives an idea of the respect Mushfiqur gets for being the flag bearer of Bangladesh's Test cricket.

On his 100th Test, he remained unbeaten on 99 after day one and spent a night waiting for that coveted mark. Only 10 cricketers before had hit tons in their 100th Test, and Mushfiqur finally achieved the mark on day two's first session.

The nerves needed to settle, and through the chants, Mushfiqur managed to see off the initial few deliveries bowled by Matthew Humphreys. Then came the last two deliveries of that first over of the day. A good-length delivery from the spinner, struck on the pads as Ireland felt they had their man, but an inside edge had saved Mushfiqur's blushes.

The next delivery caused even more trouble, this time the flighted delivery beating Mushfiqur and just missing the top of the off-stump. No runs in the first over, but Mushfiqur's resilience showed. Litton Das managed a single to give Mushfiqur the strike in the second over of the day. Mushfiqur could not quite find the sweet part of the bat in the seventh delivery he faced during the day, but the wait was finally over in the second over of the day once Jordan Neill bowled a length delivery. The right-hander aptly worked it to square-leg to run a single to bring up his 13th Test ton, equaling Mominul Haque as the batter with the most Test centuries for Bangladesh.

From limbo to release, Mushfiqur's celebration, a roar before taking off the helmet, pointed to how much he wanted to make his 100th Test a special memory. The small crowd present at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium witnessed a true cricket man pay his due respect to Test cricket.

"Incredible achievement, first Bangladeshi to do it. I say all the time about the way that I judge high-quality cricketers is on their longevity and how long they can keep performing at such a high level," former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting, who holds the unique record of hitting tons in both innings of his 100th Test, said about Mushfiqur in an ICC video ahead of the first Test.

"And pretty much every year, when you have been around for 70, 80 or 90 Tests, you have got to find a way to change and improve and get better, and that's not easy to do at the back half of your career. So terrific achievement, and I wish him all the best for his 100th game, and hopefully he will have one of the greatest Test matches of his career."

Mushfiqur may have departed on 106, but his effect has been pronounced. Only five fours in the innings, Mushfiqur's classic on his hundredth Test, is pretty much another reflection of his determination.