Bangladesh fast bowlers emerge from the shadow of their spinners during historic Test series win against Pakistan

In the hardest of times, Bangladesh scripted the sweetest of their Test triumphs, beating Pakistan by six wickets to win the second Test and series in Rawalpindi. Civil unrest raged their country when they boarded the flight to Pakistan a fortnight ago; violence has abated, though days of peace are distant. But Najmul Hossain Shanto’s men, by winning their first-ever series against Pakistan, will offer considerable solace to a troubled country.

It could be a symbolic moment when Bangladesh unburdened their litany of failures in this format. Before this series, they had won only 19 of 142 Tests, just seven of the 75 Test series, and never beaten Pakistan. It was no fit of fluke either — the scoreline 2-0 (10 and six wicket wins) captures the emphatic nature of the victory. Bangladesh out-manoeuvred Pakistan in every drill of the game, displayed more nervelessness in clutch moments, exposed Pakistan’s flaws that are spreading like termites, and most embarrassingly, out-bowled their fast bowlers. In the city, no less, of Shoaib Akhtar.

Such a thing as fast-bowling heritage did not exist in Bangladesh. The most identifiable image of their cricket is a left-arm spinner drawling into the crease and firing the ball from the furthest end of the crease to the pads. Their highest wicket-taker across the formats is Shakib Al Hasan, indisputably the country’s greatest cricketer. Three of the four bowlers who had picked a century or more wickets in the longest format have been of the left-arm spin species. The exception being off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

All their brightest moments had the southpaw stamp — the cult figure Mohammed Rafique was the man of the match in their maiden ODI win (against Kenya in 1999) Enamul Haque Junior was the man of the series in the first series win (against Zimbabwe), Shakib snaffled 10 wickets in their first Test defeat of Australia. But an unseemly pack of seamers decided their fate in the second innings in Rawalpindi, with a combination of slippery pace, clever seam bowler and tireless accuracy of lengths.

Often, Bangladesh possessed a lone credible seamer, who vanished after the new ball lost its shine. Mashrafe Mortaza pounded the deck hard, though precision was not his virtue. Shahadat Hossain blossomed in favourable conditions but lacked the craft and pace to succeed in batsmen-friendly climes.

Bangladesh’s players pose for photograph after winning test cricket series against Pakistan, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AP/PTI)

But in Nahid Rana, Bangladesh have unearthed a genuine quick, who could nudge the clock to 150kph or thereabouts and hit 145 kph fairly consistently. His second innings burst— three wickets in three overs — swung the pendulum in his country’s favour.

Shan Masood, the burdened Pakistan captain, was beaten as much by his static feet as by the pace (144.6 kph) of Rana. He hides his explosive pace in his borderline skinny frame, his laidback run-up, the non-existent jump at the crease and an action that doesn’t involve any violent motion of his limbs. The strain, rather, is on his face, which contorts, as he lets out a Nadal-like grunt on releasing the ball as fast as he could. He imparts a lot of shoulder and upper body into his action, and the height (six feet two) offers sufficient bounce to deceive batsmen looking to drive him on the rise. The in-between lengths that he probes slips batsmen as prolific as Babar Azam into dilemmas. He produced a weak stab, rather than a genuine forward defensive shot, at a hard length ball that held the line. The speed gun flashed 146.0 kph.

The 21-year-old was woefully unlucky that the slips-man grassed Mohammed Rizwan next ball. But Rana, concealing his angst beneath his calm face, raised the level of aggression, harassing Rizwan with his kryptonite. He hit him on his helmet, forced him to duck and weave on a demon-less surface, besides beating him outside the off-stump with his standard hard-length. Nonetheless, he took out the left-handed Saud Shakeel from around the stumps, shaping the ball marginally away from him. The sort of late-seaming ball that could make him a priceless weapon across conditions.

When Rana ended his burst of destruction, Hasan Mahmud cast his spell. He is not as quick as Rana, but seams the ball magnificently both ways. He mostly trades in full length, the ball often seaming away from the right-hander, as the wickets of Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique testify, and bowled with a maturity rarely spotted in someone playing just his third Test. Teaming up with Taskin Ahmed, they nabbed all 10 wickets, the first time Bangladesh had managed this in their Test history.

The unsung pace pack out-bowled their Pakistan counterparts as well as their own spinners. Bangladesh tweakers mustered 15 wickets, the seam quartet (including the promising 6 feet three left-arm seamer Shoriful) plucked 21 at 30.05. Pakistan’s seamers — five of them — eked out only 19 at an average of 39.4. The emergence of seamers could make them a serious force outside the subcontinent as well as a multidimensional side in the longest format everywhere.

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As encouraging for Bangladesh cricket was the nature of victories, achieved without drama, without the combustibility that had marked their nearly moments, but largely straightforward. In moments they would have imploded, they found inspiration. In the first innings of the first Test, they were rocked at 199 for 5, but Mushfiqur Rahim shepherded them to 565. In the first innings of the second Test, they teetered at 26 for six before Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz fashioned a comeback that shocked the hosts. In the past, they would have often made a meal of chasing 185, Guided expertly by Rahim and Shakib, fittingly for the sterling servants they had been to Bangladesh cricket, they didn’t. Thus claiming their first series win over Pakistan, in the seventh attempt. Pakistan conquered, now India awaits.

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