Mushfiqur Rahim became the first-ever player from Bangladesh to score 6000 Test runs during the first Test against South Africa. Which batters are first to this mark for their respective countries?
Mushfiqur crossed the 6,000-run mark late on day two of the first Test between Bangladesh and South Africa in Mirpur, when he reverse-swept left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj for four in the 26th over of Bangladesh's second innings.
He became the first player from Bangladesh to score 6000 runs in Test cricket. Tamim Iqbal is the only other with over 5000 runs, at a tally of 5,134 runs. Mushfiqur is also one of only three Bangladesh batters with over 6,000 runs in ODI cricket, alongside Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan.
But who was the first to the 6,000-run mark for each Test-playing nation?
Also read: Mushfiqur Rahim's late-career glow-up puts him in the conversation as Bangladesh's greatest
England: Wally Hammond
The first-ever player to score 6,000 Test runs was England's Wally Hammond, who crossed the mark in December 1938, nine months before Test cricket came to a halt due to World War II. Captaining his side, he made 24 & 58 against South Africa in Johannesburg.
Australia: Don Bradman
Rarely do you find a batting list without Don Bradman on it, and this is no different. "The Don" was Australia's first batter to score 6,000 Test runs when he went past the mark in January 1948, scoring 132 & 127* against India in Melbourne. Unsurprisingly, he remains the fastest-ever to 6,000 Test runs, doing so in just 68 innings.
West Indies: Garfield Sobers
20 years after Bradman and 30 after Hammond, Garfield Sobers became West Indies' first player to the mark of 6,000 Test runs. He narrowly missed out on Bradman's achievement of scoring two centuries in the match, with 152 & 95* to his name against England in Guyana. Sobers was joined in this club just five years later by Rohan Kanhai.
