Nahid Rana’s brilliant spell of fast bowling ensured Bangladesh a commanding eight-wicket win against Pakistan in the first ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Nahid had played five ODIs and taken only five wickets before this match and was often considered more of a Test option because of his raw pace.
But the right-arm quick bowled with genuine speed and showed he can also be an asset in white-ball cricket, achieving his maiden five-wicket haul and earning the Player of the Match award.
“The team’s plan for me was to bowl to my strength, which is pace, and execute it properly. Today my team needed a long spell from me and I bowled a seven-over spell. If my team needs a ten-over spell, then I have to deliver that as well. As a professional player, we need to be fit enough to bowl long spells whenever the situation demands,” Rana said during the post-match press conference.
“I am not thinking about increasing my bowling speed at the moment. I believe skills are more important than pace in international cricket. So I am focusing on my skill set and fitness at the moment,” he added.
The Mirpur wicket generally assists spinners, but all the pacers in the match—particularly Rana—generated good pace from the start. Rana said the pace unit had predicted that the wicket would assist the bowlers if they hit the right areas.
“I wasn’t surprised by the good bounce from the wicket. When Mustafiz bhai and Taskin bhai were bowling, we were talking with each other and they suggested hitting the wicket hard with a good line and length. I just tried to execute that plan and it worked well,” Rana said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Mike Hesson gave full credit to Rana for his outstanding spell and admitted that Pakistan’s batters were outplayed by the pacer’s pace and accuracy.
“Look, the wicket was fine. I think it played pretty well. I think Nahid Rana was exceptional. Until he came into the spell, we were ticking along okay, and then he changed the game,” Hesson said.
“He bowled well into the wicket, created variation and bounce. The fact is Rana bowled in good areas, was aggressive and used the bouncer well. He deserved what he got (the five-for). I thought he bowled exceptionally well.”
“As a batting unit we didn’t respond as well as we needed to, so all credit to him,” he added.
