CHATTOGRAM,– Afghanistan batsman Rahmat Shah came agonizingly close to hit a century in his country’s previous Test against Ireland but fell short of two runs to reach the magical three figures.

By missing the chance of inscribing his name to the country’s history permanently, he was too disappointed that he couldn’t sleep for some nights.

But little did he know that he could get that elusive century six months after that sleepless night.

In Afghanistan’s immediate next Test, what was their third Test in the history, Rahmat finally etched his name to the history by hitting a century on the opening day of the one-off Test against Bangladesh at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. And by doing so, he gave him the chance to have a good sleep by compensating for that ill-fated sleepless night.

“I had the dream to become the first centurion for Afghanistan. So naturally I was very upset when I got out scoring 98 against Ireland. Today I got the chance and scored the century,” Rahmat said after the match.

It could have been his second successive Test hundred had he not chopped on his maiden Test century at Dehradun in last March when he was removed by pace bowler Tim Murtagh after doing all the hard work and was denied a well-deserved hundred.

Rahmat followed his 98 with another half-century (78) in the second innings and played a big role behind their Test win against another Test newcomer Ireland and leaving all indication of becoming the Test future of his nation.

“It is a proud moment for me. I am the first person who has the first half century [in Test] for the country and now the century,” he said.

Rahmat was in total control throughout the innings against Bangladesh and played a key role behind helping his side post a decent total on the board after their new Test skipper Rashid Khan decided to bat.

Bangladesh dominated the opening session as the tourists were reduced to 77-3 with Taijul making most of the damage.

However, Rahmat braved the early storm in his unique way and got an able support from Asghar Afghan to script some kind of a counter-attack in the second session that left Shakib and his company at awe.

The recipe to his success against spinner was his plan to play with big stride to cut the spinners.

He said: “It was my plan to play on the front foot. They were bowling in good line and length and had a good field setup for me. It was not being easy for me to score that why I was using the crease and coming on the front foot as well.”

But despite the success against Bangladeshi spinners, Rahmat said that the Shakib and company still remains threatening object for them.

“They have a very good spin attack especially with Shakib Al Hasan. He is the number one spinner in the world and also Taijul Islam got good record in Test cricket and as well Mehidy Hasan. We had mind set for the fast bowlers but they have got spinners in the attack.”