My top five moments from Bangladesh's 100 Tests

England vs Bangladesh, Second Test, 27-31 July 2010, Lord’s

England won by 8 wickets

A jubilant Tamim Iqbal celebrates his century

I often get asked why I support Bangladesh over England and the honest answer is I don’t know. England were on my TV screens long before I knew Bangladesh existed, but I never took an interest. I sort of fell for Bangladesh, their story, their underdog status.

The older generations in my family, who moved over to the UK always had a fear of losing or forgetting their heritage and in a way, cricket helped bridge that gap into my generation. This is all subject matter for another blog - but ultimately you can’t create passion out of obligation.

As a Bangladesh fan who lives in England, there is always a huge sense of occasion when the two teams play. I’m not sure what it is. Split loyalty perhaps? The fact I can have proper cricket conversations with England fans? Or maybe just the fact that for a month the Bangladesh cricket team get coverage in all the mainstream UK media outlets.

In 2005, Bangladesh had toured England for the first time - that tour is largely remembered for a historic win against Australia in a tri-series. The Test matches were largely forgettable; we crossed the 200 run mark just once, lost both matches by an innings and the old fuddy-duddies who thought Bangladesh shouldn’t be a Test side had a field day.

But this was different. We had a young team who’d stunned at the 2007 World Cup, won in the West Indies and had played against England just a few months before (England toured Bangladesh earlier in the year, winning both the Test and ODI series).

We still lost this match - but my life was made by Tamim Iqbal’s batting performance in the second innings. Earlier in the game, Shahadat Hossain had become the first Bangladeshi to go on the Lord’s Honours Board after he taking five wickets in England’s first innings.

Asked to follow on after conceding a 223-run first innings deficit, Tamim was determined to join him. He batted like a man possessed and smashed his hundred off jus 94 balls (only Ben Stokes and Mohammad Azharuddin have done it faster at Lord’s).

It genuinely is one of my favourite batting performances ever and I still get teary watching his celebration, running towards the Bangladeshi dressing room, gesturing for them to write his name on the board. Later that summer I booked myself and my cousin onto a tour of Lord’s to see the Honours Boards. I said it was for his birthday, but I had my own sporting pilgrimage to make.