There were high expectations on leg-spinner Jubair Hossain when Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha selected the youngster directly from the national team nets even though he hardly played local cricket in the last few years.
And the 20-year old wrist spinner wasted very little time in making a mark, picking up his maiden five-wicket haul in his debut Test series against Zimbabwe two years ago. In six Tests so far, Jubair has bagged 16 wickets and can further add to the tally as he was recently called up to the 30-member national preliminary squad for the upcoming home series against England.
The Jamalpur cricketer however, is yet to prove his mettle in the limited-over formats, having taken four wickets in three one-day internationals and two scalps in his only Twenty20 international appearance against Zimbabwe.
Jubair though is determined to cash in this time around, provided he gets the opportunity to strut his stuff, be it in red- or white-ball cricket, against the visiting English side.
“At the moment, I am looking to prove myself whenever I get the opportunity to play, either in the longer-version or the shorter formats of the game. Sometimes I lose my focus when I put too much pressure on myself. My performance was harmed in the process. I am looking to overcome it in the coming days,” said Jubair to Dhaka Tribune on Friday.
Prior to this season's Dhaka Premier League, the youngster only ever featured in one Dhaka league match. However, in the seven DPL games that he did play this season for Abahani Limited, he scalped 13 wickets, including 6/34 against Kalabagan Krira Chakra in the opening match.
Surprisingly though, Jubair bided his time in the sidelines for the remainder of the campaign after all-rounder Shakib al Hasan joined the side.
With that said, he explained, “This was the first time I got the opportunity to play more matches in the Dhaka Premier League for Abahani and it was a great experience for me. I played seven matches and managed to win two games with my bowling. I think it really helped my confidence. Abahani or the Bangladesh team, there is same pressure so it was a great experience for me this season. I think it will help me to improve my bowling.”
