Who fields a short square leg in modern-day white-ball cricket? Well, Bangladesh does.
Nahid Rana bowled a short ball targeting the rib cage of Salman Ali Agha, who tried to hop it back on the square leg. Tanzid Hasan Tamim, wearing a helmet and brought there by skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz, along with Najmul Hossain Shanto, was stationed at square leg. Salman guided the ball perfectly to Tanzid, who completed the catch after two juggling attempts.
After that, Nahid was all over the field. He was pumped, full of energy, and aggressive in celebration. His fellow pacer Taskin Ahmed was visibly more delighted than others because Nahid had just taken his first five-wicket haul in ODIs, trimming Pakistan to 114 in just 30.4 overs. On Wednesday, Bangladesh eventually won the match by eight wickets to lead the series 1-0 at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Nahid was introduced with a nine-over-old ball in the last over of the mandatory powerplay. His first delivery to debutant Sahibzada Farhan nearly kissed the bat. The next length ball passed Farhan’s bat, and on the fourth ball of the over, Farhan hit a four. However, Nahid bounced back nicely, moving the ball away from Farhan.
It all started with the last ball of the powerplay, a short and wider delivery outside off stump that forced Farhan to play away from his body while attempting a cut. In his desperate search for a boundary, Farhan ended up giving a catch to Afif Hossain stationed at point.
From that moment, it was all Nahid at the home of cricket. In a continuous spell of seven overs, he achieved his second success in his second over. Another debutant, Shamyl Hussain, attempted to hook a 140 km/h bouncer from Nahid but ended up edging it to wicketkeeper Litton Das. Nahid had bowled a similar delivery just before that.
In the third over of Nahid’s spell, Maaz Sadaqat was beaten by his raw pace. The left-hander tried to take him on against a 140 km/h bouncer but ended up getting caught to Saif Hassan at deep fine leg after a top edge. Mohammad Rizwan’s dismissal was a classic white-ball wicket. Despite being hit for a boundary off a poor delivery from Nahid, he immediately responded with a good-length ball from wide of the crease.
The angle forced Rizwan to play on the front foot without any footwork, resulting in a thick edge to Litton, who dived to his right to take a superb catch. Then came Salman’s dismissal, leaving Nahid with figures of 5-0-18-5, reducing Pakistan to 69 for 5.
Nahid could have taken another wicket in the 22nd over when Faheem Ashraf was beaten as Nahid’s good-length delivery struck him on the pad. Despite loud appeals, the umpire did not give him out, and Bangladesh did not review the decision. Interestingly, TV replays showed another missed chance for Faheem when he played a straight-bat shot that almost carried to Nahid; a review would have resulted in a wicket.
Though Nahid went wicketless in his final overs, he secured his first fifer as the second Bangladeshi pacer to achieve this against Pakistan after Mustafizur Rahman. He also became the first Bangladeshi pacer to take the opposition’s first five-wicket haul in an ODI.
About his match-winning performance, Nahid remained humble, saying he did it for the team. In the post-match press conference, he said, “I always think about the team first. What my team expects from me. I always try to give my best to fulfil that.”
“At that moment, I was just trying to continue what was working for me. I was getting wickets and my bowling was creating problems for the batters,” he added regarding his bowling approach after just five ODIs. “So I wanted to keep that going for as long as possible. Maybe that’s why the captain tried to give me a couple more overs.”
Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson also praised Rana, saying, “It was the first time I saw him bowl live. I’ve watched him on TV before, but he bowled really well today, hitting the surface hard and using the seam nicely. Taking six wickets in an ODI is a special effort and he deserves all the credit.”
Despite the praise, Nahid remains grounded, knowing he has a long way to go in international cricket. Raw pace is his x-factor, and his lethal bouncer is his weapon. He knows he must keep evolving and adding variations to his arsenal. As he said, “No, nothing special. I’ll just try to keep this going for a long time.”
Since Mashrafe Mortaza, known as ‘The Narail Express’ for his extra pace, Nahid is generating similar buzz, earning the nickname ‘The Chapai Express’ after his hometown, Chapai Nawabganj. However, he does not want to brand himself. He said, “I don’t consider myself a brand. I see myself as a normal person and I just try to focus on giving my best performances.”
If that is the key, nobody would oppose him.
However, there is a famous saying in Pakistan: “Pace is pace, yaar.” Ironically, Pakistan has already faced Nahid’s raw pace before. This was not the first time; they had tested his speed in the Rawalpindi Test back in 2024.
