Dhaka's ton tales (14 March 1999)

14 March 1999

Dhaka's ton tales

Our Sports Reporter

Pakistani batsman Ijaz Ahmed seemed to be the happiest man in the world when he slammed a century yesterday against Sri Lanka on the second day of the Asian Test Championship final.

"It's a great feeling to have scored a century here. I have been struggling with my form and today's century will definitely give me extra confidence for the future. I also scored a hundred here during the Independence Cup final but unfortunately we lost that match to India," said Ijaz, who also scored a century in Chittagong in 1988.

"Any player would love to make a comeback with a century and I want to take it to a double hundred tomorrow," said a confident Ijaz, who remained unbeaten on 118.

Saturday's century was the eleventh Test ton for the Lahore-based right-hander, who was dropped for the Lahore Test against Sri Lanka for his poor performance against India in the first match at the Eden Gardens last month.

Apart from his own record, this was the ninth Test century scored at the Dhaka Stadium, now known as Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The other eight centuries were scored between 1955 to 1969 before the independence of Bangladesh. Legendary Pakistan batsman Hanif Mohammad is leading the list with three centuries including his centuries in both innings against England in 1962.

Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)