A stellar debut

A nerve-defying 45 under pressure, a wicket on his first delivery and a brilliant two-wicket haul in 10 overs that could have yielded three had Mushfiqur Rahim stumped Najibullah Zadran in the 47th over; at no point during yesterday's match did it seem like Mosaddek Hossain was playing his first ODI.

The calm with which he approached his batting at a time when Bangladesh were struggling at 141 for seven and after all the batsmen including skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza were sent back to the pavilion, was quite phenomenal.

The way he patiently waited for the deliveries and dissected the fielders on the offside, the manner in which he powerfully pulled the Afghani bowlers for sixes under pressure, were just some of the delightful moments of the Mosaddek show.

Batting under such pressure is nothing new for Mosaddek. He took Abahani home from vulnerable situations a number of times in the recently concluded Dhaka Premier League. In four-day cricket, he boasts a solid first-class average of 70.89.

However, all those records and numbers were achieved in domestic cricket. The real test, as many international players will tell you, begins when you start playing for your country in front of packed stadiums.

In a way, Mosaddek made his debut in one of the hardest circumstances. Bangladesh were struggling against an Associate Member nation whom they were expected to beat in front of 20,000 fans.

He took up the challenge and answered it in style. Mashrafe perhaps described his performance best: "He had an outstanding innings with the bat," the Bangladesh skipper said of Mosaddek during the post-match press conference. "With the ball, I initially thought of bringing [Mahmudullah] Riyad, but once I saw that he was confident, I continued with him. He bowled a lot better than what I had seen him bowl before. Had we all supported him a bit, we could have won this match."