Bangladesh’s new generation pace duo, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana, impressed with their bowling in the recently concluded Test series against Pakistan, where they led from the front and proved their inclusion made a significant difference.
Bangladesh has traditionally been a team more reliant on its spin bowling. However, over the last couple of years, the pacers have also started to step up and play leading roles.
In Pakistan’s second innings of the second Rawalpindi Test, Bangladesh’s pacers took all ten wickets—a first in Bangladesh’s cricketing history, clearly indicating the pacers’ capabilities.
Both Hasan and Nahid registered career-best bowling figures during the series. Hasan recorded his maiden five-wicket haul, while Nahid took four wickets, including three in a five-over spell that changed the game’s course on the fourth morning.
Their performance signals that the new generation of pace bowlers can shape the future of Bangladesh cricket. However, it’s crucial to ensure an environment for Hasan, Nahid, and others like them that will help them maintain their fitness and keep them fresh for consistent performance.
Bangladesh has a history of overusing pacers, which eventually made them incapable of playing all formats or prone to injuries.
Along with the new pacers, experienced campaigners like Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz havealsostarted delivering at crucial moments, as Mushfiqur Rahim has done for a long time.
All these three played the most important role behind their recent Test series win over Pakistan in Rawalpinidi. Mushfiqur’s 191, Litton’s century, and all-rounder performance of Mehidy in this series will be remembered for long.
All these together, Bangladesh cricket is on the verge of a new beginning.
There was always a doubt that if players like Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, and Mushfiqur Rahim retired, Bangladesh would face a vacuum, and that transition period might make their cricket vulnerable to regression.
With Mashrafe, Tamim, and Mahmudullah already out or nearly out of the picture, and Shakib and Mushfiqur also nearing the end of their careers, Bangladesh is catching glimpses of a new era.
The credit for this change essentially goes to Hasan and Nahid’s imperious bowling display in the Pakistan series.
