It looked like Tanzim Hasan Sakib v the world on May 14.
The Bangladesh national team selection panel had just announced the squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup and Sakib had pipped Mohammad Saifuddin to get in the final 15.
Several questions 鈥� scrutinising why he was picked over Saifuddin 鈥� were thrown at the selectors. The next day, those were thrown at head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto.
While he got into the squad, it was unsure whether Sakib would actually get into Bangladesh鈥檚 first-choice XI. He played two games in three-match series against USA leading to the World Cup, picking just one wicket.
Shoriful Islam was all set to be Bangladesh鈥檚 new-ball pacer in the XI alongside Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman, with Sakib as their backup.
Things went south in the warm-up game against India just before the World Cup 鈥� Shoriful split the webbing in his bowling hand trying to stop the ball while bowling.
That meant the left-arm pacer was out of the Tigers鈥� opening tie against Sri Lanka, paving the way for Sakib to play.
Sakib took a wicket against Sri Lanka and retained his place in the XI against South Africa as Shoriful was not ready to play yet. In that match, the right-handed pacer ensured that he was not dropped.
In his opening spell, he picked up three wickets and dismantled the Proteas鈥� top-order, which helped Bangladesh in restricting them to just 113, a total they almost chased down.
After another one wicket haul against Netherlands, Sakib came roaring against Nepal as Bangladesh had to defend a meagre total of 106.
Shanto backed him and gave him four overs on the trot with the new ball and he wreaked havoc on the Nepal top-order, picking up four wickets giving away just seven runs, including 21 dot balls 鈥� the most-ever by a Bangladesh bowler at a World Cup match.
After going wicketless against Australia, he picked up Virat Kohli with a brilliantly disguised slower and Suryakumar Yadav with a delivery at pace that bounced a bit more against India.
Overall, Sakib has picked up 11 wickets in six matches with an average of 10.27 and a strike rate of 10.90, putting him among the top bowlers of this World Cup.
When he was picked up in the XI, there were questions aplenty of why he was picked. Since then, Sakib has silenced his doubters with his on-field exploits and making him a permanent stay in the XI, at least for the coming months.