'If 300 was easy, you would have seen one every month' - Tamim

When Tamim Iqbal reached 298 while batting for East Zone against Central Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League, a meeting inside the BCB headquarters broke up. Those attending climbed out of the window, and waited in the balcony overlooking the Shere Bangla National Stadium's grandstand. In attendance were BCB's chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, cricket operations chairman Akram Khan and chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

As soon as Tamim scampered to take the single, the loudest cheer came from these three men, as well as from inside their meeting room where Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo and Habibul Bashar, selector and former captain, stood to give him an ovation.

At the end of the third day's play, Chowdhury and other board officials greeted Tamim and cut a cake with him to celebrate the left-hander becoming the holder of the country's highest individual score, an unbeaten 334 that had 42 fours and three sixes, spanning a gargantuan nine hours and 45 minutes. Tamim's triple hundred was only the second by a Bangladeshi, after Raqibul Hasan's 313, nearly thirteen years ago.

Raqibul, who played nine Tests between 2008 and 2011, coincidentally was in the opposition when Tamim was batting in this game. Later, he was specially called to cut the cake with Tamim as one of the two triple centurions in Bangladesh's first-class scene, apart from Tamim's East Zone teammates and BCB officials.

Tamim said that the nine-hour essay will remain an innings that is close to his heart.

"It is a special feeling to score a triple hundred," Tamim said. "I think everyone dreams of such an innings but I didn't think it would come in this game. The most important thing for me was how I batted. I hope I can continue with the same form. It is a special innings; three hundred runs is tough against any opposition or at any level. If it was easy, you would have seen a 300 every month. It will have a special place in my heart."

What stood out in Tamim's knock was his perseverance while playing a low-key domestic match. Often in the past he has gotten out after scoring a big hundred, but this time, with the need of getting in the groove ahead of his comeback Test next week in Rawalpindi, Tamim dug deep.

"I felt that I was very determined. The wicket was playing well. It wasn't spinning or doing that much. I kept it simple. After completing the triple-hundred, I took some chances. Otherwise, I kept on playing cricketing shots. I was looking for boundary options, rather than sixes.

"When I touched 280 was the first time I started to think about the triple hundred. I felt that if I thought about the milestone for too long, it would change my overall plan which was to bat in a plain and simple manner," he said.

Tamim scored more than fifty runs in each of the sessions since the second day, but he said that as the innings wore on, on the third day, batting became tougher. From being unbeaten on 222 at the start of the third morning, Tamim played patiently to reach 300 after lunch, and only then did he open up to attack the Central Zone bowlers.

"Compared to the second day, the wicket was tougher on day three. I had to settle on singles and doubles, rather than boundaries," he said. "I was always on the lookout for runs just like a Test match where there are many fielders behind the wicket.

"We always wondered how Raqibul made that triple hundred all those years ago. It is not easy. Wickets used to be slower and take spin. We always talked about his innings in the Bangladesh dressing room, how he managed to do it. I think he faced around 600 balls too."