Nazmul Hasan did not score a run in three of his four innings against the West Indies. He could not play in the National League as he was with the team in New Zealand. Where another young top-order batsman, Saif Hasan, scored a century by batting at three. And another top-order batsman, Sadman Islam, played a great first innings of the Chittagong Test against the West Indies, scoring 59 runs. All three were fighting for the opening and number three positions.
In the first Test against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Saif was sent alongside Tamim Iqbal in place of Sadman. Nazmul retained his place at number three. However, Nazmul's time was running out. After four consecutive innings of failure against the Caribbean, if he failed in Sri Lanka, Nazmul might have had to make way for Sadman in the next Test. But today, on the first day of the Pallekele Test, Nazmul removed all doubts by scoring the first Test century of his career.
After Saif was dismissed for 0 in the second over of the innings, Nazmul came to the crease and put on a 144-run partnership with Tamim. This was the second century partnership for the wicket outside the country since 2009. At the other end, while Tamim was playing devastating cricket, Nazmul's bat was calm. He was effortlessly blocking the good balls of the Sri Lankan bowlers with a tight strategy. This left-handed youngster completed his fifty in 120 balls without taking any risks.
Even though Tamim was out for 90, Nazmul did exactly what he had been doing all morning in the second session of the day. After a marathon partnership with Tamim, Nazmul, who settled down on the wicket, made things easier for new batsman captain Mominul Haque.
