Nasir revels as a bowler
Mustafizur Rahman might have stolen the show with a gentle twist of his wrist; the left-hander's off-cutters have already been deemed 'legendary' amongst Bangladesh's cricket fans, but spare a thought for Nasir Hossain, whose tidy off-spinners and flawless catching pegged back India in the first 35 overs of the match at Mirpur yesterday.
Over the last six months, Nasir's bowling has quietly become a force to reckon with. He has been thrown the ball at various stages of the game and no matter what the challenge, he gracefully accepted the offer every single time.
Be it the risky Powerplay scenario against India during the World Cup or the crucial death overs against New Zealand, the 23-year-old, in the recent past, has been a stabilising force for Bangladesh's bowling attack, gladly answering the call whenever the specialist bowlers needed a break.
Yesterday was no difference. With Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli cruising, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza decided to bring in Nasir. In only his second over of the day, he trapped the dangerous Virat Kohli in front. Three miserly overs later, he got rid of Dhawan with a beautifully tossed up delivery.
The arrival of Nasir in the eleventh over of the match also put a lid on the run flow. He never did anything special; but just ensured bowling to his field, something that was evident with the way he bowled against Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Off the 32 deliveries he bowled to Dhoni, 19 of them were dot balls. The number of times he forced the India skipper to merely defend the ball to either a square leg or short mid-wicket, was very noticeable.
But of course, it wasn't the first time that Nasir bowled with such impeccable accuracy. His bowling average this year, in fact, has overshadowed the top bowlers of Bangladesh.
In 2015, Nasir bowled 50.4 overs, taken eight wickets at an average of 29.62. Only Mustafizur and Arafat Sunny have better bowling averages. But then again, they both played lesser number of matches. While Nasir has played eight ODIs, Mustafizur and Arafat have featured in two and four ODIs respectively.
What makes Nasir's bowling stats a lot more phenomenal is the fact that he has bowled almost thrice as many overs this year as compared to the first three years of his career.
Since 2011 to 2014, Nasir bowled 60.1 overs, gained three wickets and averaged a disappointing 100.33. Nasir was never able to provide a clear-cut answer regarding his bowling improvement.
However, many reckon that it was the decision to drop the player prior to the Zimbabwe series last year that brought out the best in him.
It was big decision, considering that Nasir's World Cup slot was at stake. The player, as he would go on to state later, feared that his career would come to an end.
It was his ability to force the selectors to bring him back for the World Cup that changed the course of his career yet again.
At the moment, Nasir knows that he doesn't have an assured place in the side. A powerful Sabbir Rahman can bat in the same position as he did in his first three years, while a host of spinners are always in contention.
For Nasir to continue living his ODI dream he needs to be at his best; and at the moment it seems to be a challenge that he is enjoying.