Bangladesh pace bowling coach

‘Coaches should not compromise with raw pace’

Nahid Rana stunned the cricketing world with his raw pace during Bangladesh’s historic 2-0 Test series triumph over hosts Pakistan, clocking over 150 kmph while also claiming his career-best figures in the second Test. Even though Bangladesh cricket has been reaping the benefits of forming a potent pace group across formats in recent years, the factors behind the emergence of talented quicks have not been focused on a large scale. The Test series triumph against Pakistan in Rawalpindi would not have materialised if pacers like Hasan Mahmud, Nahid, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed had not outshone the quicks of Pakistan -- a country historically known as the ‘land of pacers’. What comes as a hopeful sign for fans and a sweet headache for the team management is that these four aforementioned pacers are not the only ones available in the Tigers’ pace tank. Khaled Ahmed, who was also part of this Pakistan series, Ebadot Hossain, currently rehabilitating from an ACL injury that saw him out of action for more than a year, and white-ball regulars Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman are all part of the Tigers’ current pace battery. While they gel together in the national team under the guidance of foreign coaches, the story of their emergence began under local coaches to whom they turn to whenever needed. In this special issue of The Daily Star Sports, we look at one such local coach, Alamgir Kabir, and one of his disciples, Nahid, who came to the fore through the recent Pakistan series. The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan reached out to Alamgir, and the excerpts of their interviews are provided below:
7 September 2024, 01:00 AM