What a picture!
Hasan Mahmud leading the walk towards Bangladesh’s dressing room at the sun-drenched Marrara Stadium, a red Kookaburra in his hand. Litton Das is smiling behind him, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto applauding beside him, while fellow pacers Ebadot Hossain and Taskin Ahmed wear broad smiles of their own.
The reason is obvious.
Twenty-three years after Bangladesh last played a Test in Australia, Hasan produced a spell that ripped through the hosts and bowled them out for 198. He became the first Bangladesh bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Australia, finishing with 6/55 in 17 overs, including three maidens.
Until Thursday, the best bowling figures by a Bangladesh bowler in a Test innings in Australia belonged to Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, who took 3/74 at this very ground in 2003. Twenty-three years later, on the same ground, Hasan doubled that tally.
But the spell was more than just a career-best performance. In nearly 150 years of Test cricket, visiting fast bowlers have taken six or more wickets in an innings in Australia 73 times. The list includes Asian greats such as Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, as well as modern-day stars Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Hasan has now joined them.
And this was no overnight success.
Early in his career, Hasan bowled with a front-on action, testing batters by hitting the off-stump corridor. He had a good seam with the new ball and could generate swing. In Darwin, however, swing was not the plan.
Instead, Hasan relied on a repeatable action, repeatedly hitting the same areas and focusing on the movement available from a pitch that was not typically Australian in character. He also worked with the wobble seam. The results were telling.
Take the dismissal of Jake Weatherald in the 12th over. The fourth ball was one that could easily deceive even an experienced observer trying to read the late movement. It started around middle and leg before jagging sharply into the batter. Weatherald tried to drive on the up, only to edge it to Litton. Hasan had landed the previous delivery on a scrambled seam.
Then came Travis Head. Hasan went around the wicket and operated from a wide line, focusing primarily on length. After being punished from a fuller length, he pulled his length back slightly. One such delivery dragged Head forward for a drive, only for the extra bounce and movement to take the edge and clip the top of the stumps.
Hasan revealed after the day’s play that the plan had been discussed before he even bowled his first delivery.
“That was the plan before the ball. We just had a chat with our analyst and things to work on, like how you are going to start your overs, use the crease, and come over the wicket.”
His development has also been shaped by his recent experience overseas. Earlier this year, Hasan played first-class and T20 cricket for Kent in England. He also produced a series of impressive yorkers for Colombo Capitals in the Lanka Premier League.
Changes to the position of his bowling-arm elbow have helped him generate an extra bit of movement from the ball, particularly late movement. Darwin offered another example of that evolution, although this time it was part of a deliberate plan.
“If the ball is getting movement, I change my bowling side and come around to see how it goes. That is how I was creating chances with the new ball,” Hasan said.
The six-for was the third five-wicket haul of his Test career. The first came against Pakistan, the second against India and now the third against Australia.
Asked which one was the most special, Hasan refused to separate them.
He said, “All the wickets are special to me, but the energy the team had from the morning and the effort everyone put in on the field, I would definitely give credit to my teammates. The way the captain supported us on the field, Alhamdulillah, we were able to finish well.”
His latest five-for was completed with the wicket of one of the world’s best Test batters, Steven Smith. Hasan has already dismissed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in his career, but Smith’s wicket felt particularly significant.
Smith had survived on two before going on to score Australia’s highest total, 71. Hasan eventually got him with a short ball, as Smith lost patience and top-edged a pull to Litton.
Hasan said he trusted his instinct, “Especially Smith’s wicket, I would say he was not able to predict. My instinct was that he was going to try something, so I bowled a bouncer and he missed it.”
His bowling also earned praise from Australia’s own players.
“During the match, Travis Head was saying, ‘Good bowling’, and Nathan Lyon was also asking me how many five-wicket hauls I have. They just asked me some questions during the match,” Hasan said.
After his latest five-wicket haul, Hasan’s next challenge is not to look back, but to keep going. He said, “I got five wickets against one of the best teams in the world. I want to continue this. There will be more challenges ahead, there are more matches to come, so I am focusing on that.”
