The West Indies players came out with a visible fury on the third day afternoon. The umpires had to warn them.
鈥楬e talked a lot,鈥� one of the close-in fielders said, pointing at Bangladesh opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy. Three balls later, he got out for a duck, edging one to second slip. The celebrations were ecstatic.
If someone started watching the game at that point, they would end up wondering what had happened for the Caribbeans to get so angry. Well, something did not happen. Someone did.
Bangladesh had never beaten a full-strength West Indies side on Caribbean soil. They were the perennial victims of the pace and bounce the West Indian quicks dished out, including the infamous 43 six years back.
For all they could do, Bangladesh could never threaten them. There was no reason for an outrage on their part鈥攖hey knew there was no need for that. The wins would come anyway.
Well, until they got to bat in Jamaica. And until a certain 22-year-old came to bowl from the Michael Holding end. In his first over in Sabina Park, the tall, lanky, not-so-well-built pacer broke the 150 kph barrier twice.
For the first time against Bangladesh, West Indies felt threatened. From the end named after the guy who was called 鈥榃hispering Death,鈥� Nahid Rana suddenly showed them that they had to face the chin music they were only used to throwing at the Tigers.
Rana made them uncomfortable. While they managed to see him off with just a wicket on the second day, there was no stopping him on the third as he ran through them, picking up his first five-for. And for all his pace and terror, the standout image from his spell was a big smile on his face and a thumbs up for Zakir Hasan after he managed to bounce Kraigg Brathwaite out.
And as West Indies crumbled, handing Bangladesh an 18-run lead despite a meagre first innings total, they suddenly felt the need to talk. In hindsight, they should have asked someone from Pakistan鈥攖hen all of it wouldn鈥檛 have been that big a surprise.
Because just months back, in his first away series, Rana had walked up to the home of Shoaib Akhtar鈥攖he Rawalpindi Express鈥攁nd made the Pakistani batters fear for their lives with raw pace. The Pakistan batters were visibly uncomfortable, and Bangladesh fans truly delighted. This was new for them. They were at the wrong end of pace for all two decades of their red-ball lives. This time they were chanting for it.
Bangladesh never had an express pacer. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, probably the pioneer of fast bowling in the country, was reportedly fast, hitting 90 miles an hour early in his career. Injuries made sure it was not the case for long. Rubel Hossain was considered fast but could never be consistent in red-ball cricket, and even his pace was never consistently breaking past the 140 kph mark.
Taskin Ahmed was quick in his early days too before injuries saw him focus on other things. Ebadot Hossain showed some promise before settling on accuracy rather than pace, and now, following an ACL injury, it鈥檚 unlikely he will ever hit the erratic high speeds he displayed early on.
Thus, Rana came as a revolution. Even when he focuses on his accuracy, he hits 145 kph easily. Guess what he could do if he decided to just bowl fast.
Bangladesh fans, while relishing what Rana has done with the red cherry, will still be wary of hope. Injuries reducing their pacers is something they have seen happen to the best they have produced鈥擬ashrafe, Talha Jubair, Taskin, Mustafizur Rahman, and Ebadot. The silver lining, though, is that the Tigers now have a deep enough pace contingent that ensures that Rana doesn鈥檛 need to be strained, especially across formats.
All Bangladesh needs to do is protect the revolution they have found. Then, they will find themselves at the receiving end of the fury from the opposition again, because Rana, with his everlasting smile, would rattle them to their bones again.