Bangladesh’s humble Mehedi Hasan, making waves but just trying to ‘perform averagely’

Bangladesh's breakout spin star Mehedi Hasan earned his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests on Saturday, but the 19-year-old downplayed his achievements.

Bangladesh's Mehedi Hasan bowls during the second day of the second Test against England in Dhaka on Saturday. Dibyangshu Sarkar / AFP / October 29, 2016

Doing the ordinary things right helped Bangladesh spinner Mehedi Hasan put up an extraordinary performance as he claimed his second five-wicket haul in as many Tests against England on Saturday.

Mehedi, who celebrated his 19th birthday this week, finished with 6 for 82 as Bangladesh bowled out England for 244 in their first innings on the second day of the second Test in Dhaka.

His exploits made Mehedi the first Bangladeshi bowler to take five or more wickets in his first two Tests after he claimed seven wickets in the first Test in Chittagong, including 6 for 80 in an innings.

Bangladesh lost the first Test by 22 runs but Mehedi, who led Bangladesh in the last two Under-19 World Cups, earned widespread praise for his heroic performance on his Test debut.

“I never think about taking five or six wickets,” Mehedi said after Saturday’s play.

“I always try to perform averagely, which I tried in the second Test as well.”

Born to a taxi driver father in Bangladesh’s Southern city Khulna, Mehedi showed his potential in the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year when he scored four half-centuries and claimed 12 wickets to be adjudged as man of the tournament.

He was picked in the Test side as a prospective all-rounder although his batting skills have deserted him in his three innings so far with just three runs to his name.

Mehedi admitted there was a huge gulf between Test cricket and the junior World Cup where he made 242 runs in six matches.

“There is a huge difference because there are many world class and mature bowlers here,” he said.

“I wanted to do well (with the bat). Unfortunately it didn’t work out. I will try to do it in the future to improve.”

He added: “International cricket is a different challenge, but the senior players helped me a lot. Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, they never treat me like a newcomer.

“They support me all the time which makes my life easy.”

*Agence France-Presse

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