Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud described it as an ‘amazing’ feeling to be part of history after becoming the country’s first bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket.
Hasan claimed a five-wicket haul on the third morning of the ongoing Test against Afghanistan, triggering an early collapse as Bangladesh bowled out their opponents for 240 to secure a 106-run first-innings lead.
“It’s an amazing feeling. When you start bowling and see movement off the wicket, you try to bowl upright, swing the ball and get a wicket. I was just trying that and following my process. I was pleased to see this kind of movement in the morning,” Hasan said after the day’s play.
The right-arm pacer had managed just one wicket on the second day but said he remained confident heading into the third morning.
“Last day I only got one wicket the whole day, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I was looking forward to today,” he said.
Hasan struck three times in consecutive deliveries in his second over of the day to complete the historic feat. He began by uprooting Ismat Alam’s off stump with the third ball of the fourth over before dismissing Qais Ahmad with a good-length delivery that took the edge and flew towards the wicketkeeper. Litton Kumar Das dived to his right to complete an excellent catch.
Hasan then trapped Ziaur Rahman lbw to complete the hat-trick. The umpire initially turned down the appeal, but Bangladesh reviewed the decision and the call was overturned, sparking celebrations.
“Great catch by Litton Das to remove Qais. Later, Ziaur’s ball hit him directly on the pad, and it was straight. I talked to Litton, and he said it was going to hit, maybe it was just about the back foot. So, yeah, we took the review,” Hasan said.
Bangladesh had already lost a couple of reviews in the first innings, making the decision a significant one. Hasan credited captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton for backing the call.
“We lost a couple of DRS in the first innings, so everyone was thinking about the DRS, whether it was going to be hitting or not. Credit to the captain and Litton Das. They were talking and chatting with each other, and then they told me that it was going to hit, so I could take the review,” he said.
Hasan said his approach throughout the spell was to keep things simple and trust the conditions to do the rest.
“I just felt that I should bowl straight. That’s it. Let the ball do the job. So I just followed the line and bowled at the top of the stumps,” he concluded.
