Jubayer Tanin, from Abu Dhabi
There is a proverb, “Morning shows the day.”
In cricket? Not really.
A leg glance off the second ball of his innings raced to the fine-leg boundary for four. Towhid Hridoy kicked off his 35* run innings in style. But after that, Hridoy struggled to find another boundary during his 57-minute, 36-ball stay at the crease against Hong Kong at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
He tried to hit big shots but couldn’t connect properly, often ending up with miscued lofted shots while chasing 144 runs.
In the 15th over, facing a slower delivery from Ehsan Khan, Hridoy attempted a hard slash over deep point, showcasing his typical wristy batting style, but only managed a single. Later in the same over, a shortish ball pitched outside off, Hridoy went deep in his crease and powered it toward deep mid-wicket. The ball was stopped by a fielder, and Hridoy managed a double.
Hridoy came to the crease in the last over of the powerplay and remained on the field until the winning shot. He shared a 95-run third-wicket partnership with skipper Litton Das, setting a record for Bangladesh in the Asia Cup. However, throughout that partnership, Hridoy was visibly struggling.
After the match, Hridoy admitted that he is not in the best form in this format. In a post-match press conference he said, “My honeymoon period is over, as you said. I’m trying my best. Since that phase has passed, I’m going to practice more. Maybe it’s not working out yet. And if you look, no world-class player or anyone else can always keep going upward on the same graph.”
Let’s look at the field placement against Hridoy by Hong Kong. As the powerplay ended, Hong Kong spread the field.There were always fielders at long-on, long-off, extra cover, deep square leg, and mid-wicket, precisely the areas Hridoy likes to target. He loves to use his wrists to hit off the pad deliveries to the leg side, as well as pierce the off-side boundaries toward deep point and extra cover.
Hong Kong effectively blocked his scoring zones and set traps, which Hridoy wisely avoided. That’s a win for him, he remained not out until the end. But did he truly dominate? Did he show intent? Not really, as his cautious approach suggested.
When Hridoy walked onto the pitch after the departure of Tanzid Tamim, a senior journalist from Bangladesh remarked, “It’s now or never for Hridoy.”
It seems Hridoy, who last crossed fifty in October 2024, managed to save himself for now. But against stronger opponents like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, who are expected to challenge Bangladesh aggressively, Hridoy will need to step up and guide the team over the victory line alongside his teammates.
