The crowd that witnessed England’s tense five wicket win against New Zealand at Lords could be forgiven for taking little notice of a diminutive twenty-year-old wearing a yellow fluorescent bip. He was little more than a fleeting extra amongst the unfolding drama.
Only the most dedicated cricket badger will be familiar with Robin Das; Essex second eleven batter and England’s substitute fielder for the first Test. Despite his anonymity, when Das took the field as a replacement for Matt Potts on day one, it was a moment imbued with significance; he became the first player of Bangladeshi heritage to represent England.
On the surface, it's perhaps a surprise it’s taken so long for someone within the British Bangladeshi community to wear England colours, particularly given the numerous high-profile examples of players who have excelled for England with Indian and Pakistani ancestry.
Cricket is played and watched, with as much gusto by Bangladeshis, as you would expect from the more established cricket playing nations. A combination of English cricket’s structural imbalance, vividly highlighted in the wake of the Yorkshire racism scandal, and the general marginalization of the British Bangladeshi community, partly explains the dearth.
Whatever the reasons are for the anomaly, it was a proud moment for Das and his family as he took the field at Lords.
“I've been speaking to family members throughout this week, they've said how they've been proud of me. And family back in Bangladesh are very proud too,” he recalled in the aftermath of the match. “I feel like I have a good connection with the Bangladeshi community here. I've played quite a lot of cricket locally with fellow British Bangladeshis, so if I can represent them in any way or make them feel proud, it’s a very good feeling.”
The opportunity came about when the ECB approached Essex, asking for potential substitute fielders ahead of the Test. When I ask Das about his initial reaction upon being thrust into the England dressing room, understandably there’s a hint of being overawed by the situation, but an impressive maturity is also apparent.
“I was very wide eyed, taking it in, watching the likes of Roots and Stokes in the nets. I tried to join in as best I could. I was quite nervous heading in and trying to introduce myself. But the lads [were] very welcoming, very kind, and did their best to make me feel as involved in the practice session as I could be.”
In contrast to England dressing rooms of yesteryear, the senior pros were singled out for their willingness to accommodate a new face, “the likes of Stokes, Root, and Bairstow were really good. They're very chatty, and they're very good at building conversations.”
Das’s Essex teammate, Nikhil Gorantla, was also on substitute fielding duties and the involvement in the early morning warm-ups and the team huddle, added to the sense of belonging. The fact that Das has played at Lords twice before, for his local club Wanstead and an England Schools side against the MCC, meant that he was to a degree accustomed to the surroundings.
Although playing in front of a packed crowd was a new experience. “It's almost deafening. You can't really hear much going on at the wicket because the crowd behind you are so loud.”
When he was called into action, Das perfectly details the dilemma faced by all fielders, at any level of the game.
“You always have to want the ball to come to you and be confident. I do remember when I was at deep square to Matt Potts, and he was bowling bumpers to Daryl Mitchell, I was kind of hoping there wouldn’t be a top edge and I drop it. I was trying to tell myself to like stay calm and just focus on each ball.”
Fortunately, his brief fielding stints passed without incident, giving him more time on the side lines to soak up the atmosphere, and to carry out time honoured duties; ferrying drinks to England fielders at the fall of each wicket, and providing the batters with fresh gloves.
When the conversation turns to Das’s future career aspirations, he’s characteristically level-headed. The right-handed batter, who scored a double century for Essex U17s against Kent and has appeared for the Essex first team on a handful of occasions, says:
“I feel like I've done reasonably well this year. I’ve been consistently scoring runs and my short-term aims are just to keep continuing that form, trying to score as many runs as I can, and hopefully get into the first team.”
Inevitably, Joe Root’s name crops up when the topic of favourite players is discussed. “I admire his consistency and how easy he makes batting look. He is one of the best players in the world to watch and what he has achieved for England is amazing.”
Revealingly, with a nod to his roots, Das also references a couple of Bangladesh players.
“Shakib is someone who has been successful all around the world, in every country and every format. Also, Litton Das has been very consistent in the last year or so and I think he will play a big part in the future.”
Whether or not he's able to emulate his namesake, Robin Das will always have four incident-packed days at Lords to fondly look back on.
Tawhid Qureshi is a cricket writer and journalist based in the UK, he has contributed pieces to BBC online, Wisden and The Cricketer Magazine. He also runs the Sight Screen Cricket Journal, his twitter handle is @SightScreenCJ. A version of this article first appeared on thecricketer.com.