Bangladesh’s rising fast bowling star Nahid Rana was taken to a local hospital in Chattogram following the third and final ODI against New Zealand on Thursday after scraping his right hand on a nail from an advertising hoarding near the bowling mark while on the field. The injury has since been bandaged.
BCB medical chief Debashish Chowdhury confirmed the injury was minor and that Nahid is expected to resume bowling within a day or two, with no long-term concerns over his fitness.
The incident provided an unwanted footnote to what had otherwise been a memorable day for the 23-year-old. In the series decider, Nahid took two wickets, one of which was a 148.6 kph yorker that shattered Josh Clarkson’s stumps and left the crowd in disbelief.
That performance was the fitting conclusion to a series in which Nahid was quite simply unplayable at his best. He claimed eight wickets across three matches, including a five-wicket haul in the second ODI, consistently troubling New Zealand’s batters with his raw pace and accuracy. He was the unanimous choice for Player of the Series.
What made the award all the more significant was the history attached to it. Nahid became the first pace bowler from Bangladesh to win the ODI Player of the Series award in consecutive campaigns, a feat that places him in remarkable company. Before him, only Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had won the award twice for Bangladesh. Nahid has not merely matched that achievement but surpassed it, becoming the first Bangladeshi pacer to do so in back-to-back series — a record even the legendary Mashrafe never managed.
Following the ODI series, Nahid returned to Dhaka and has been left out of the squad for the upcoming T20 series in Chattogram. He has also not been cleared for the Pakistan Super League. Instead, the BCB has confirmed he will channel his preparation entirely towards the forthcoming two-match Test series against Pakistan, a series in which, fitness permitting, he will be expected to lead the attack.
