The beginning of the new-year had seen the Tigers’ fans throughout the world having a busy time.
The three-nation ODI tournament involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe alongside the hosts had started on the 15th January, and with Bangladesh inflicting humiliating defeats to their opponents.
The event has already drawn a great amount of public interest in Bangladesh. Some fans are also keeping an eye on the events at NZ, where the young tigers are trying to impress in the U-19 WC. They have reached the quarter finals despite losing to England.
In the middle of all these excitements our present success and future prospects in the international arena, two events in our domestic arena have virtually gone unnoticed. On 15th jan, Tushar Imran, a solid right handed bat in the C. Pujara mould became the first Bangladeshi player to score 10,000 runs in first class cricket. A couple of days later, Abdur Razzak, his Khulna teammate, and a slow left arm bowler, achieved the distinction of becoming the first Bangladeshi bowler to take 500 wickets.
Obviously, from global perspective theses achievements might appear insignificant; but for the cricketing history of a nation that only came in to existence less than 50 years ago, these are big milestones.
Here, I would like to pay my tributes to these two men, who for the most of their long cricket career had remained badly underrated.
The story of Tushar should come first, partly because he reached his milestone first, and partly because he is one of my all time favourite Bangladeshi player. Tushar’s moment of glory came in the late afternoon of 15th Jan, in the small ground of BKSP, in the suburbs of Dhaka.
He had to wait patiently. The foggy conditions and a wet pitch meant that the BCL match between the Central Zone and the South Zone had a delayed start.
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The good thing was that when play started in the afternoon, the Central Zone captain after winning the toss, put the opposition in. Tushar came to the wicket at number 4, with his team struggling at 22 for 2.
He joined another veteran, left hander Shahriar Nafees, and together they took the score to 108 for 2 before the stumps, with Nafees 53* and Tushar 40*. His big moment come when on 34, he hit a short ball from leg spinner Tanbir Hayder through mid wicket to take his tally of first class runs past the 10,000 mark.
There should have been a great crowd present to witness this milestone, but sadly, only a handful of spectators watched the event. Nevertheless, his teammates had arranged a graphical illustration to celebrate.
Despite being a prolific run-getter in the domestic arena for half a decade now, Tushar has mostly remained away from the limelight of international cricket. His last international match came in 2007. And at the age of 34, a recall seems unlikely.
Yet, things looked so much brighter for him in his younger days. Barely out of his teens, Tushar was selected to make his Test debut against SL at Colombo (SSC) in July 2002.
And batting in the middle order, he impressed in the second innings, scoring a classy 28, before falling to the leg spin of Upul Chandana.
He shared a half century partnership with Ashraful. Sadly, after 16 long years, 28 still remains his highest Test score. His Test record over 5 Tests shows 89 runs at an average of less than 9.
Certainly, the decision to send him to SA in the autumn of 2002 was a grave mistake. With little experience of playing in bouncy wickets, he looked hapless against the hostile pace of Pollock, Ntini and Hayward. This badly dented the confidence of the youngster and his last Test match came in 2007 against Sri Lanka.
His ODI record is hardly better; an average of less than 15 over 41 matches. Yet again, there was a promising start; 65 against Pakistan in his third ODI, in Jan 2002, was followed by 61 against SL in his fifth ODI.
But, after that the successes became rare. The SA tour, of course was a disaster and after struggling in the 2003 WC, he never managed a regular slot in the side.
There was a brief moment of glory for Tushar, when he was a part of the Bangladesh team that defeated the mighty Aussies at Cardiff in 2005. In fact his solid 24, batting at No. 3, laid the foundation for the Tigers’ successful chase. Sadly, he failed to build on this success and his last international match was in Dec. 2007.
Away from the international limelight, Tushar decided to concentrate on the domestic front, and over the last 6/7 season, he has become a prolific run getter in the domestic arena, and most of his successes have come in the four day first class matches.
He mostly plays his first class cricket with Khulna Division (His hometown Jessore is part of the Division) and the South Zone squad. His runs, and Razzaks wickets has helped Khulna win four NCL titles over the last seven years.
Tushar had a memorable 2016-17 season, when he averaged over 90 in the BCL. And this performance briefly rekindled his chances of return to the Test team.
I was especially keen on seeing him return in the big series against the Aussies in the last autumn.
I was preparing myself for another Chris Rogers or Adam Voges like story. Just a year earlier, Shahrar Nafees, ex-national team cricketer and a successful captain in the domestic arena, described Tushar as the best technical batsman in the country.
Sadly, the selectors didn’t feel along the same line, and he wasn’t even mentioned among the probables. The selectors put great faith in the likes of Soumya and Sabbir, who duly disappointed. While, Soumya and Sabbir possess a great array of attractive strokes, their temperament in the longest version of the game is highly questionable. Tushar, with his excellent temperament is the ideal man for Test cricket. Sadly, he is badly ignored by our national selectors.
Though dejected, Tushar has manfully continued on piling up the runs in the domestic arena. He was overjoyed after reaching the milestone on the 15th, but he was greatly disappointed the next morning getting out for 56. He reckoned that he had missed a hundred in perfect batting conditions. The hunger for runs is still there.
Abdur Razzak started the match at BKSP on 499 wickets. As the Central zone team started batting, he opened the bowling on a turning track. But he was frustrated by the opposition openers who put on a superb 171 run partnership. But, after Mahedi made the initial breakthrough, dismissing Robiul for 90, Razzak trapped Shadman, the other opener LBW for a fine 89. Overall he finished with 4/152 from 53 overs. This isn’t his best bowling efforts, but it’s a memorable one.
Unlike Tushar, Razzak did enjoy a lengthy time in national colors. But almost all his successes came in the shorter formats. Making his ODI debut against the minnows HK, in the 2004 Asia Cup in SL, he quickly impressed taking 3/17. But even more impressive was his 2/36 from ten overs against the mighty Pak side in the next match.
Over the next decade, Razzak was a permanent feature in our ODI team. His nagging accuracy and shuttle variation of a flight always makes him a very difficult bowler to score of. So far, he has 207 ODI wickets, in the process he became the first Bangladeshi to pick up 200 wickets in ODI cricket. His T20 international record is also impressive, 44 wickets at less than 20 apiece.
Sadly, his Test record makes a disappointing reading. Only 23 wickets at more than 67 apiece. While he has no less than 8 ten wicket hauls (in a match) in domestic cricket, a Bangladesh record; his best bowling in a Test match shows 1/51 and 3/93 against New Zealand at Chittagong in Oct. 2008.
That’s why despite his regular wicket taking in first class cricket his name is not mentioned a Test match probable. Taijul Islam, the main specialist left arm spinner in the Test team, has underperformed over the last six months or so, but the selectors have made it clear that there is no immediate chance of Razzak returning to the Test team. What surprises me more is his exclusion from the limited over teams.
He hasn’t played for Bangladesh since 2014. In recent times, the likes of Saqlian Sajib, Arafat Sunny and Sanjamul Islam are considered way ahead of him in the pecking order for the left arm spinners job.
So, it looks like both Tushar and Razzak would remain away from the international spotlight. But, Mashrafe Bin Mortoza has paid rich tributes to both of them and has described them as role models for the young generation of cricketers.
As for the two gentlemen, they have vowed to carry on the good work, and that certainly isn’t good news for their opponents in the domestic front.
Despite their limited success in the international arena; they both deserve permanent places in the annals of Bangladesh cricket history.
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