20 September,2024 07:46 AM IST | Chennai | R Kaushik
Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud celebrates dismissing India’s Rishabh Pant in Chennai yesterday. Pic/PTI
It's been a great last month for Bangladesh cricket. And for their fast-bowling fraternity.
Twice in Rawalpindi against Pakistan, inspired by their inexperienced but impressively skilled pacers, Bangladesh found ways to escape from tight spots to carve out sensational victories. In the first Test, after Mushfiqur Rahim's monumental 191 helped the visitors open up a first-innings lead of 117, they rode on early strikes from Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana and sustained success from spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz to send the hosts crashing to 146 all out and eventually completing a ten-wicket victory.
A week later, Mahmud and Rana, both playing their respective third Tests, accounted for nine Pakistani second-innings wickets to orchestra another stunning collapse and set up a six-wicket triumph that helped them complete a historic 2-0 sweep on Pakistani soil.
Hitherto largely a land of spin, Bangladesh are now putting together a pace attack capable of holding its own anywhere in the world. Two of their premier pacers, Shoriful and Ebadot Hossain, are out injured, yet Bangladesh summoned the depth to rattle India, reducing them to 144 for six on Day One of the first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium until the hosts rallied to reach 339 without further damage on Thursday.
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The most impressive of the visiting quicks was Mahmud, not the quickest but definitely highly skillful. Presented with unusually favourable conditions - good bounce, rare moisture on live grass and considerable seam movement - he feasted on the uncertainty in the minds of India's gun top-order to fire out Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant.
Taskin Ahmed, the leader of the pace pack and the most experienced of the three, was a little off the boil, but Rana, who had arrived riding the wave of a hype for his extreme pace (145 kmph) and towering stature (six feet five inches) immediately showed what he is capable of. India were hopping and scrapping; there was none of the âfear' Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha had alluded to two days back, but India were certainly given a wake-up call that R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja responded admirably to.
"My plan was simple," Mahmud, who ended the day with four for 58 from 18 terrific overs, said later.
"With the new ball, I was bowling to my strength. What I can do, I kept doing it all the time, and I got success with that. Whenever you take a wicket, it's reason to be happy, doesn't matter who the batsman is.
But I was very happy to take him [Virat Kohli] out because he is the best batsman in the world currently." More will certainly be heard of Mahmud and Rana, 24 and 21 respectively and with almost their entire cricketing lives ahead of them.
