Mushfiqur becomes Bangladesh’s first batter to reach 7,000 Test runs

There are milestones, and then there are those that set a player apart from every compatriot who came before him.

Mushfiqur Rahim reached the latter on Monday, becoming the first Bangladeshi to score 7,000 runs in Test cricket.

The 38-year-old needed just 9 runs in Bangladesh’s second innings against West Indies in Sylhet to enter uncharted territory, adding another landmark to a Test career that began in 2005.

No Bangladeshi batter comes close to his tally. Mominul Haque is second on the country's all-time list with 5,293 runs, followed by Tamim Iqbal on 5,134, Shakib Al Hasan on 4,609 and Litton Das on 3,557.

Across 107 Tests, Mushfiqur has scored 14 centuries, including two double-centuries, and 30 half-centuries at an average of nearly 40.

Few players have been as constant through Bangladesh’s changing generations, coaching regimes and recurring batting struggles.

His place in the record books was already secure. His unbeaten 219 against Zimbabwe in 2018 had stood as Bangladesh’s highest individual Test score for years, until Towhid Hridoy struck 242 in the first innings of the Sylhet Test.

Now, with 7,000 runs behind him, Mushfiqur has another record entirely his own.