Bangladesh recently named their squad for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup.
In the squad – including reserve players – Bangladesh have five front-line seam-bowling options: Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin and Rubel Hossain (travelling reserve).
Somehow, the Bangladesh selectors have decided that seamer Al-Amin Hossain would not be making the squad to travel to the UAE.
Al-Amin is not a well known seamer outside of Bangladesh like Mashrafe Mortaza or Mustafizur Rahman are. However, he has toiled hard in domestic cricket and has represented Bangladesh in all three formats.
Standing at 180 centimetres, Al-Amin has this uncanny ability to trouble batsmen with a nagging length and generate good bounce, which is rarely seen among Bangladeshi fast bowlers.
Since his T20 international debut in 2013 against New Zealand, Hossain has played 31 T20Is for his nation, including playing in the 2014 and 2016 T20 World Cups.
In his T20I career, Al-Amin Hossain has picked up 43 wickets at an average of 16.97, a strike rate of 14.2 and an economy of 7.13. Now, let’s compare it to the seamers in Bangladesh’s squad bar Shoriful Islam as he is new to T20 internationals.
Taskin Ahmed – 24 matches, 15 wickets, 40.08 average, 28.6 strike rate, 8.38 economy
Mustafizur Rahman – 52 matches, 76 wickets, 18.65 average, 14.9 strike rate, 7.48 economy
Mohammad Saifuddin – 25 matches, 26 wickets, 27.73 average, 19.6 strike rate, 8.48 economy
Rubel Hossain – 28 matches, 28 wickets, 32.57 average, 20.6 strike rate, 9.45 economy
(Photo by Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Al-Amin’s numbers with the ball are extraordinary in T20 internationals, and it is shocking that in a career starting from 2013, he has only played 31 T20 internationals.
His numbers are way better than the majority of the Bangladesh T20 seamers, with only Mustafizur Rahman giving Hossain a run for his money as Bangladesh’s best T20I seamer.
After analysing all of the T20I matches Al-Amin Hossain played in, I broke down his bowling stats in three sections.
Powerplay (overs 1-6)
12 wickets, 24.25 average, 24.0 strike rate, 6.06 economy
Middle overs (overs 7-16)
Nine wickets, 21.0 average, 17.33 strike rate, 7.27 economy
Death overs (overs 17-20)
22 wickets, 11.36 average, 7.72 strike rate, 8.82 economy
Dot balls bowled – 289 (47.1 per cent dot-ball percentage)
Al-Amin has been outstanding for Bangladesh during all three stages with the ball in T20 cricket, even keeping an economy below nine in the death overs, which is a tough job.
With the power play, Al-Amin keeps things tight and creates pressure by not allowing opposition batsmen to take advantage of the fielding restrictions.
He has dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Shahid Afridi twice while also dismissing Aaron Finch and David Warner once in his career.
Despite being fit and available for selection, Al-Amin has been overlooked for the likes of Taskin Ahmed and Rubel Hossain for the T20 World Cup.
With the UAE pitches suiting Al-Amin’s style of bowling, his omission is nothing short of a farce. Bangladesh does not boast the depth that the bigger nations have in white-ball cricket where an omission like this is understandable to an extent.
But once again, Bangladesh selectors have ruined another seamer’s career despite all of his good showings in T20 internationals.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Politics: Maybe he has upset someone internally. He got kicked out of the 2015 WC squad after breaking team curfew in Brisbane. But bar that, he’s had a clean record. Part of me feels he’s still being punished for that. Press: Idk why they aren’t honestly. For all the hype the Fizz gets with his cutters on slower wickets, Al Amin has done well for Bangladesh on all surfaces. If Hossain was backed properly from his debut, he’d have over 75 T20I wickets by now
Paul
Roar Guru
What's the politics around Hossain, Arnab? If he's fit and has a record so superior to other chosen players, there has to be another reason for his exclusion and the most obvious is he's done something, to someone in Bangladesh cricket. I had a quick look on the internet and there didn't seem to be anything about this from the Bangladesh press, which was surprising.
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
I’d have dropped both Taskin and Rubel. Their averages are way too high for T20 internationals considering they aren’t consistent wicket takers and leak quite a few runs. Al Amin would come in and another bloke called Shohidul Islam as the travelling reserve seamer. 54 wickets in 37 T20s at an average under 19 and SR of 14. Can bat a bit and is a good death bowler. But our brain dead selectors don’t know how to differentiate formats and put specialists in. Come next years t20 wc, Al Amin has to come down under. Would be the most threatening seamer in Australia, even more than the Fizz.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Is there a player Bangladesh should be dropping from the squad for Al-Amin, and who would that be and why?