Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain have all fuelled Bangladesh’s dream of producing genuinely fast bowlers. In Test cricket, teams benefit greatly from pace bowlers who can unsettle batters with sharp bouncers.
However, injuries ended Mashrafe’s Test career long before he retired from international cricket. Although he continued playing international cricket until 2020, he made his final Test appearance in 2009.
Even so, Mashrafe still holds the record as Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker among pace bowlers in Test cricket. Meanwhile, Taskin and Ebadot continue battling injuries to remain in international cricket.
Taskin still plays all three formats, although he carefully manages his workload.
Ebadot, who suffered an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury, could not even run for nearly a year and a half and had to rely on crutches to walk. Since returning, he has lost some of his pace and penetration.
At the same time, Nahid Rana has emerged as a genuine fast-bowling prospect, leaving Ebadot without a guaranteed place in Bangladesh’s Test side.
Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, Nahid Rana regularly bowls at speeds approaching 150 km/h. He delivers intimidating bouncers and has also developed reverse swing remarkably quickly.
A simple statistic illustrates Nahid Rana’s impact on Bangladesh’s Test team. After playing only 12 Tests in a career spanning just two years, he already tops a notable list.
Among Bangladesh’s pace bowlers, he has taken the most wickets, 26, in the country’s Test victories.
Nahid has grabbed attention in recent series with his balling. That excitement has now turned into disappointment.
Bangladesh will tour Australia for a Test series after a wait of 23 years, but injury has ruled Nahid out of what would have been a dream tour.
Bangladesh will travel to Australia without their leading pace bowler. For several days, everyone associated with cricket has expressed regret over Nahid’s absence.
Without him, Bangladesh lose their greatest bowling weapon. Social media has even shown Australian supporters lamenting the fact that Nahid will not feature in the series.
Australian supporters mainly regret missing the opportunity to watch a genuine pace bowler in action.
Bangladesh’s disappointment, however, centres on losing the team’s ‘X-factor’, something that could prove decisive during the matches.
Bangladesh felt Nahid’s absence in the recent one-off Test against Zimbabwe, where he rested. In Harare, no one managed to break the hosts’ well-established partnership.
Bangladesh may feel that absence even more keenly against Australia. Even if Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud make early breakthroughs, captain Najmul Hossain may find himself wishing Nahid were available if Australia build a substantial partnership. A single magical spell from Nahid could have transformed the course of a match.
Bangladesh’s pace attack has improved steadily over the past few years, making this Australian tour particularly significant. Nahid stood at the centre of that ambition.
For decades, Australia’s pace bowlers have dominated opponents. Their pitches and conditions provide the ideal stage for fast bowlers to prove themselves.
Before injury interrupted his progress, Nahid was enjoying outstanding form. This series would have offered him the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his abilities even more emphatically in Darwin and Mackay.
Nahid Rana’s disappointment may have another reason other than the fact that he will miss the chance to play Test cricket in Australia. Bangladesh played their first Test series there in 2003 and it was also their last.
They return only now, after a gap of 23 years, during which an entire generation of Bangladeshi cricketers has come and gone.
If Bangladesh once again face such a lengthy wait before playing another Test series in Australia, will Nahid receive another opportunity during his career? Even if the next Future Tours Programme schedules a Test series in Australia next year, will he still be in the outstanding form he currently enjoys?
These questions make Nahid’s absence from this Australian tour even more painful.
Ian Bishop captured that feeling perfectly when he said, “Like many other cricket lovers, I too was eagerly looking forward to seeing Nahid Rana bowl in Australia!”