The speed gun showed 152 kph. Nahid Rana was working up serious pace and the Pakistan batters looked uncomfortable. Only a handful of spectators cared to pay a visit to the Rawalpindi Stadium for the second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Rana’s bowling deserved a bigger audience. Once upon a time, Pakistan fast bowlers used to drive fear intothe opposition. Now, the boot was on the other foot.
For the first time, Bangladesh fast bowlers took all 10 wickets in an innings. It set up their team’s six-wicket win in the second Test and a clean sweep in the two-match series. Hasan Mahmud bagged a five-for. Rana took four, while the other wicket went to Taskin Ahmed.
Rana is 21 years old. He stands 6ft 2in. But he is not an alpha male. He is shy, a hesitant speaker, and never does he give the impression that he would intimidate the opposition batters with his bowling. Appearances can be deceptive. Give him a cricket ball, and Rana will run in like the wind and hurl thunderbolts. He clocked 150-plus on his Test debut against Sri Lanka too. In the series against Pakistan, he did it more consistently.
After the first Test, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) put out a video of Rana and Mahmud talking to the in-house media. “I was a tad nervous to start with,” Rana said. “Mahmud bhai and Shoriful bhai (Islam) helped me get into the groove.” Mahmud, then, spoke about his junior. “International cricket is a different ball game,” he said. “The best thing is the way he (Rana) has been pretty quickly adapting to the demands of international cricket.”
Between them, the two fast bowlers accounted for 14 wickets in two Tests, with Rana claiming six at an average of 39.50. Mahmud was more impressive – eight wickets at an average of 24.12. But Rana was the find of the series. The opportunity came to him by chance, but the youngster grabbed it with both hands. “The captain (Najmul Hossain Shanto) gave me a clear plan,” said Rana. “He encouraged me to bowl bouncers. He made my job easier.”
A Bangladesh team insider spoke of how Rana wasn’t the first choice for the first Test. He played because Taskin was undercooked and needed some game time with the ‘A’ team. Then, in the second Test, Shoriful didn’t play due to an injury and Rana was picked again. He is now coming to India for the upcoming two-Test series with a reputation. But against a better team, his challenge would be tougher.
The Chapai Nawabganj district in Rajshahi is famous for mangoes. It now has a cricketer to take pride in. Rabeed Imam, BCB’s press officer and a long-time friend, was narrating Rana’s journey; how he was spotted by the Board’s talent scouts while playing a local tournament. The young fast bowler was included in the BCB’s High Performance Programme, where he was nurtured. Soon, Rana made his Dhaka Premier Division debut. He also had a couple of seasons in the Bangladesh Premier League before being brought to the national team fold earlier this year.
Bangladesh became an ICC Full-Member in 2000, but they never had a tearaway quick, one of the reasons for their scant success on the road. At his peak, Taskin hits the bat hard, but he is not express. Rana’s emergence has filled the void.