In course of time, many famous people have born in the land of Bengal and have made Bangladesh proud with their achievements. The boisterous boys of Bengal have also achieved noteworthy successes in the world of sports. Most of the achievements of Bangladesh in international sports have come from cricket. However, athletes from other disciplines also have notable successes in the international arena. In this article, we will discuss some notable Bangladeshi athletes with the most unique records that will make you even more proud.
Unique records held by some famous Bangladeshi athletes
09) 16-time winner of national table tennis championship (Zobera Rahman Linu)
Female table tennis player Zobera Rahman Linu made a name for herself after winning a record 16-time national table tennis championship in the individual category from 1979 to 2001. No athlete in the world has won that many national championships titles, for that reason this a very unique record held by Zobera Rahman. She was awarded Bangladesh National Sports Award in 1999.
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08) First South Asian to earn chess Grandmaster Title (Niaz Murshed)
Niaz Murshed is a very well-known chess player in Bangladesh. In fact, he is the pioneer of chess in Bangladesh. Niaz became the first South Asian to earn the Grandmaster title in 1987, a truly exceptional achievement. He represented Bangladesh in eight Chess Olympiads and won four national championship titles at the age of only 16.
07) First wicketkeeper-batsman to score two Test double centuries (Mushfiqur Rahim)
Bangladesh’s Mushfiqur Rahim became the first and the only wicket-keeper batsman ever to score two Test double centuries in 2018. He achieved that feat against Zimbabwe after scoring 219* at the SBNCS, Dhaka. In February 2020, Mushfiqur also scored his third Test double ton against the same opposition and the same venue. Mushfiqur Rahim is currently the second most run-scorers (12,085) for Bangladesh across all formats.
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06) First and the only cricketer ever to be ranked No.1 all-rounder in all formats by ICC (Shakib Al Hasan)
Arguably Bangladesh’s greatest ever athlete Shakib Al Hasan made history after became the first and the only cricketer ever to be ranked no.1 all-rounder in all formats by ICC (International Cricket Council) on 12 January 2015. What a remarkable achievement it was by Shakib! The ace all-rounder will soon become the only player in history to have more than 10,000 runs and 600 plus international wickets.
05) First Asian to win world lightweight kickboxing title (Ali Jacko)
Abdul Ali, alternatively known as Ali Jacko is a British-Bangladeshi kickboxer, who became the first Asian to win World lightweight kickboxing title in 1996. Four years later in 2000, he went onto win his second W.K.O title. In 12 years of professional career, Ali Jacko also won the British lightweight kickboxing title, European kickboxing title, and World Inter-Continental Championship.
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04) Youngest Five-Wicket Haul in Test Debut (Nayeem Hasan)
Tall off-spinner Nayeem Hasan became the youngest debutante (17 years and 356 days) to take five-wicket in Tests against the Windies in November 2018. He achieved that feat in his hometown Chattogram. He was also the eighth Bangladeshi player to take five wickets on Test debut. So far, Nayeem Hasan has picked 25 Test wickets in 7 appearances. Surely, he is a great asset for Bangladesh cricket.
03) Youngest player to score a Test century (Mohammad Ashraful)
Mohammad Ashraful had a dream Test debut against Sri Lanka back in September 2001. He made 114 runs in the second innings of Bangladesh and thus became the youngest player (17 years and 61 days) ever to score a hundred in Tests. Ashraful is considered the first global superstar of Bangladesh cricket and he made invaluable contributions in Bangladesh’s many historic victories.
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02) First player to score a century and take a hat-trick in the same Test match (Shohag Gazi)
Off-spinning all-rounder Sohag Gazi became the first and the only player ever to notch a hundred and take a hat-trick in the same match against the Windies in 2012. This is a very special record and breaking this record would be very difficult for any player. Sohag Gazi’s international cricket career only lasted for 3 years but his achievement will always be remembered by tiger cricket fans.
01) First Asian to swim across the English Channel (Brojen Das)
Brojen Das created history after becoming the first Asian to cross the English Channel in 1958. In fact, he crossed the Channel then record six times from 1958 to 1961. In 1961, he smashed the world record of the fastest to cross the English Channel. He also won multiple national-level competitions during the Pakistan period. Born in the riverside district Munshiganj in 1927, Brojen Das had a fascination to swim on a large water body since boyhood, therefore he practiced swimming in the Buriganga River. Brojen Das is considered one of the greatest South Asian swimmers ever.
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Bottom Line
The sports sector in Bangladesh has made significant progress in the 21st century. Especially Bangladesh has become one of the well-known cricket nations in the last two decades. Besides cricket, there have been significant successes in golf, karate, taekwondo, shooting, and archery. However, the country’s one of the most popular sport Football and national sport Kabaddi are in a dire situation. Sponsorships and doable plans required to revive these two particular games. More talented players will come like the above-mentioned renowned Bangladeshi athletes with the most unique records if the government comes forward to develop the country’s overall sporting structure.