Tamim the top Tiger

It was the dawn of a new era yesterday. Tamim Iqbal finally took over Habibul Bashar as the highest run-getter in Test cricket for Bangladesh. It took him 40 matches.

Ever since Bangladesh entered the Test arena, Bashar's name had been somewhat synonymous with this particular statistic. The former national captain had topped the run-getters' list in as early as 2001.

And as the years progressed he had stretched his runs tally to such an extent that none of his peers, or even the ones who had begun playing Test cricket a few years after him, were anywhere close.

When he retired in 2008, after playing 50 matches, he had scored 3026 runs. Tamim, at that point of time had played four Tests and had 177 runs under his belt.

And so as soon as Tamim clipped one to long-leg and completed the seven odd runs he needed, journalists immediately lined up outside the selectors' cabinet at the Fatullah stadium in a bid to speak to Bashar.

The 42-year-old initially joked and claimed that he was extremely disappointed to see his record broken, before providing Tamim with a message. "I believe that he has the ability to score 10,000 runs. If he doesn't, I'll really be disappointed then," said Bashar.

When the man in question was informed about Bashar's expectations, he provided a more realistic reply.

"It looks difficult because on an average we play 3-4 Tests a year. So if I play for 10 years I will be able to play just around 40 Tests," said Tamim.

"If we play seven to eight Tests a year then it may be possible. It depends on my form and fitness as well," he added.

When asked if he felt that the milestone could have been reached a lot earlier, he said, "It took me around seven years. But in these seven years I have played just 40 Tests. Had I or anybody else reached the mark earlier, it would have been good for the entire team.

Tamim, who is now the highest run-getter in both ODIs and Tests, said that he preferred the Test record over the ODI stats, considering the difficulties of Test cricket.

He also stated that he would have been happier had he achieved the milestone with a good knock yesterday instead of getting stumped for 19.

While Tamim reached the milestone he was looking for, Mominul Haque failed to equal AB de Villiers's world record of scoring 12 consecutive Test fifties. Mominul isn't likely to bat again in this Test and in all likelihood will have to stop at 11.

"Definitely disappointed. He may not care about the record but it would have been good if there was a Bangladeshi's name in the record books," said Tamim, adding that he felt Mominul could soon become the highest run-getter for Bangladesh.