Dhaka: Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has made history by becoming the first batter from Bangladesh to hit centuries in both innings of a Test match on two separate occasions. His remarkable achievement occurred during the first Test against Sri Lanka, where he scored an unbeaten 125 in the second innings, following his impressive 148 in the first innings.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Shanto’s previous instance of achieving this milestone happened in 2023 against Afghanistan, when he scored 146 and 124 in the respective innings. His accomplishment places him alongside Mominul Haque as the only Bangladeshi batters to have reached this milestone, with Haque scoring 176 and 105 against Afghanistan in Chattogram in 2018.
Globally, Shanto became the 14th cricketer to score centuries in both innings of a Test match more than once. The elite group includes renowned cricketers such as Herbert Sutcliffe, George Headley, Clyde Walcott, Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Rahul Dravid, Matthew Hayden, Aravinda de Silva, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis, and David Warner. Among these, Gavaskar, Ponting, and Warner have achieved this feat three times in their careers.