Centuries a means to an end

The third day of the second Test saw Bangladesh display the best and worst of their batting in Test cricket.  
While during phases of the 232-run stand between Shamsur Rahman and Imrul Kayes seemed to be taking the home side towards a new dawn, the events that followed brought them back to square one.
Both batsmen were bowled while attempting to play expansive drives right after they reached their respective centuries. Despite their statements that they had intended to continue after reaching the three-figure mark, the manner of their dismissals led many to believe that satisfaction had taken over, leading to carelessness. What happened next was nothing new; there was a collapse and the initiative surrendered.
Even if the observation is true and the batsmen did indeed believe that they had done enough to seal their spot in the side, they should be the last ones to be blamed. While both these batsmen haven't played too many Tests, they are part of a culture that does not ask for much more than a century and statistics bear this out.
Shamsur Rahman became the first opener to score a century for Bangladesh since June 2010; the last being Tamim Iqbal's century in Manchester.
Of the 83 50-plus scores made by the top three Bangladesh batsmen only 14, including the two centuries yesterday, have yielded centuries. Moreover, a majority of the 33 overall centuries scored by Bangladesh range between scores of 100 to 130.
The wicket at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday seemed as though it was taken right out of a domestic game and the batsmen were expected to be comfortable on it, but none successfully carried on.
Despite the progress in other areas of Bangladesh's Test game over the last two years, they need to step out of the mindset that sees the century as the be-all and end-all of batsmanship if they are to truly arrive on the scene.