A shaky pace establishment
The ongoing special edition of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BBPL) has provided some of the lesser known young pacers a platform to showcase their talent, but when it comes to established and proven fast bowlers, it has been a disappointing show so far.
Youngsters like Mehedi Hasan Rana, Mukidul Islam, Hasan Mahmud and a few other pacers who are yet to represent the country have caught the eye with their pace and performances.
22-year-old left-arm pacer Mehedi is the top wicket-taker in the BBPL so far, having bagged 12 wickets in four games for Chattogram Challengers, including figures of four for 28 in an otherwise high-scoring encounter against Cumilla Warriors yesterday.
The onus was also on the experienced national pacers such as Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed, Abu Hider and Al-Amin Hossain as the selectors had said before the tournament that they would keep a close eye on the performances of local players ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia next year.
Hider had a particularly bad day yesterday as he conceded 38 runs in two overs while bowling for Cumilla against Chattogram.
Despite the pitches in Dhaka and Chattogram being sporting ones that have offered opportunities for both bowlers and batsmen to shine, Bangladesh’s pacers have so far failed to cash in.
Left-arm pacer Mustafizur has been struggling for quite some time now and his star has been diminishing, the latest sign being that he was unsold in the Indian Premier League auction on Thursday.
In mid-2016 Mustafizur had announced himself as the king of cutters to begin his international career, but he is now struggling to find his feet even in the BBPL and more importantly, he has become a predictable proposition for batsmen.
The 24-year-old picked up four wickets in four games for Rangpur Rangers at an economy rate of 8.32, which clearly indicates that his bowling in this edition has been largely ineffective.
Mustafizur’s Rangpur teammate and another once highly-rated pacer, Taskin Ahmed, is also following the same path. The tall right-arm pacer has been hit over the park in the BBPL so far with an economy rate of 12.60 in three games and is yet to pick up a wicket.
More telling is the fact that the national pacer is yet to bowl his full quota of four overs in any of those three games, which reflects a lack of trust from the captain.
The scenario for Abu Jayed also remains the same who has been the only highlighting aspect for the Tigers during the two match test series in India last month remained sloppy in the BBPL for Rajshahi Royals.
The right arm pacer so far picked up two wickets in three games with an expensive economy rate of 9.14.
Cumilla’s left arm seamer Abu Hider who went for 13 runs in his first over against Chattogram yesterday had picked up just two wickets in three games with an economy well over ten runs per over.
Although the likes of Shafiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain have managed to pick four wickets in the tournament, but the venom expected from them has been missing.
The fact that the most experienced of the lot -- Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza -- has picked up three wickets in four games for Dhaka Platoon at an economy rate of 8.62 sums up the scenario of Bangladesh’s pace bowling unit.