Determination vaults Nayeem back into spotlight
"It's always tough when you are injured but I tried to adapt," Nayeem Hasan said with a smile that did not altogether conceal his boyish charm during the press conference in Chattogram yesterday.
After all, he has only turned 22. But having made his debut in 2018, Nayeem has already seen the struggles of international cricket. Having scaled the heights with a record five-wicket haul and becoming the youngest bowler to bag five wickets on debut in his hometown of Chattogram, he also saw the lows following injury in 2020.
Nayeem still holds the record as the youngest bowler in history to bag five wickets on debut, achieving the feat at the age of 17 years and 356 days. The injury, a fracture to the little finger of his right hand, saw him struggle as West Indies came in 2021 and Kyle Myers blew a hole into the Bangladesh spin attack at Chattogram. That was the last series Nayeem played before he was picked this time against Sri Lanka after injury to Mehedi Hasan Miraz.
"I was with the team after my injury and after my treatment but didn't get the opportunity to play. Miraz bhai was playing very well. I tried to maintain myself and kept practicing so that I could play when I got the opportunity," said the right-arm off-spinner, who had drawn wickets on a wall of his backyard alley and bowled by himself during the lockdowns brought on by the pandemic.
Despite the opportunity, he claimed he was disappointed by Miraz's injury. But he took his chance when it mattered yesterday against Sri Lanka, appearing in his first Test in 15 months.
Sri Lanka looked in control, having dealt with the first 23 overs of the day yesterday, and Nayeem, who picked up two wickets on day one, emerged with new plans by curbing his excitement.
Having given the ball a lot of air the first day and leaking runs, he tightened up and, along with Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, stuck to a plan. More often than not, he got his wickets because the ball did not turn as much as batters expected.
"Yesterday I was giving it too much flight. Today, I tried to bowl in good areas with a little more speed. Yesterday, they [Taijul and Shakib] stemmed the flow of runs. I talked to Shakib bhai, the coach and Sourav bhai [Mominul Haque] yesterday and talked about the demands of the wicket and tried to bowl to that. It worked," the youngster said.
Nayeem was able to curb his enthusiasm and bowl to the plan set by his team. Having struggled with injuries, the mental make-up was sharper and will go a long way to Nayeem being able to use his talents with the confidence of his career-best figures of 6 for 105.
Scores in brief
Bangladesh v Sri Lanka (Day 2)
Sri Lanka: First innings--397 all out in 153 overs (Mendis 54, Mathews 199, Chandimal 66; Nayeem 6-105, Shakib 3-60, Taijul 1-107)
Bangladesh: First innings—76 for no loss in 19 overs (Joy 31 not out, Tamim 35 not out)
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