BAN vs IND: Bangladesh Test players to score century on debut

2. Mohammad Ashraful- Colombo, September 2001

In 2001, Bangladesh, who were inexperienced in Tests, toured Sri Lanka for Asian Test Championship. Losing the first game against Pakistan by an innings and 264 runs in Multan, Pakistan, the team travelled to Colombo, Sri Lanka to lock horns with Sanath Jayasuriya-led Sri Lanka side. Invited to bat first after losing the toss, Bangladesh delivered a horrendous performance as the visitors looked clueless in front of Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.

Another side, Sri Lanka, after delivering a hit show with the ball, became more dominant in the game by amassing 555 runs in the first innings at a loss of five wickets. With no positives happening in the game for Bangladesh, openers Javed Omar and Mehrab Hossain came out to bat in the second innings, and again the Bangla Tigers looked helpless with the score of 81/4. 

After the fall of early wickets, the 17-year-old Mohammad Ashraful went out and played pure Test innings of 114 runs off 212 balls and became the second Bangladesh batter to score a century on a Test debut. However, the scintillating knock in the pressure game couldn’t avoid Bangladesh’s defeat in the match but earned Ashraful respect and made him a star batter for Bangladesh for the next 12 years.