“I saw Bangladesh fast bowlers bowling against Pakistan here – and the way they bowled in the West Indies – and I think they have very skilled fast bowlers,” Javed said. “Especially Nahid Rana. He has height and he has pace. Taskin is a very skilled bowler. Another is Mustafiz, who is very experienced and he has all the varieties. I am glad that even the Bangladeshi fast bowlers come well.”
This is probably the best nail-bowling device that Bangladesh has ever brought to a tournament, though their fighters have scored too few races to really give them a chance to impose themselves. Maybe rain that permits it can change Thursday.
Given that Jasprit Bumrah is almost inevitably the best whiteball bowler in the world (although he is not playing this tournament), and Sri Lanka also has a tempo battery that runs deeper than ever (though they do not play in this tournament), this is the closest thing with a quick-bowling golden agent Age South Asia has ever had.
Bangladesh Assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin agreed that Bangladesh’s nail stocks were strong. Some of this is down to the country after switching to Dukes Ball in their first -class cricket in the last few seasons. Dukes Ball has a proud nail that tends to last further through laps, encouraging fast bowling. Salahuddin was excited about the prospect of several Bangladesh quicks coming through the system to International Cricket.
“We now have lots of fast bowlers in Bangladesh, which can appear at the international level,” he said. “We also have young people coming up. That’s a good sign that our fast bowlers can dominate teams in these flat numbers. I feel the bag, Rana and Mustafiz are our best bowling attack. They learn, but hopefully they will one day dominate World Cricket.”
Although Bangladesh, like Pakistan, has lost both matches so far and is out of Champions Trophy, Salahuddin said there was plenty to achieve from the match.
“It’s definitely a dead rubber as there’s no consequence for any of the team. But we’re here to play a tournament and this is our last match, so we’ll see that the players are doing well,” he said. “We have plenty of room for improvement, so we won’t repeat the mistakes of the previous matches. I think every match is important to the players. It could be a turning point for a particular player or even our team. This may be the end of this tournament but the players have a future ahead of them.”
