Rawalpindi. Chennai. Darwin. Abu Dhabi.
On Sunday morning, also became the fastest among Bangladesh fast bowlers to the mark of 50 Test wickets.
Mahmud’s five-wicket hauls in four different countries, and therefore four different sets of conditions, makes him an elite bowler, and not just among Bangladeshis, who call qualities such as Mahmud’s “foreign” in a fast bowler.
Mahmud is consistent with his lines and lengths. He can whip and dart the ball both ways. He uses the wobble seam to good effect. Most crucially, Mahmud takes a lot of wickets without conceding too many runs, giving him a relatively strong bowling average.
At the last two venues where he has taken five-wicket hauls – Darwin was the last – he has reminded viewers of a certain Glenn McGrath. The repeatable bowling action – without a marked leap before delivery, though with a lower point of release – and the metronome line and length does take one back to a younger McGrath.
Whether he is similar ot not, Bangladesh have greatly benefited from what Mahmud has brought with him: consistency and effectiveness.
“I saw movement early on, so my plan was to bowl top of the off stump in the morning. I wanted to swing the new ball, but I also had to make sure that I made the batters play every delivery”
Hasan Mahmud
“I saw movement early on, so my plan was to bowl top of the off stump in the morning. I wanted to swing the new ball, but I also had to make sure that I made the batters play every delivery. I tried to bowl as straight as possible. It brought me success,” he said after the Abu Dhabi haul on Sunday.”
Towards the end, he added a hat-trick to his kitty, the first by a Bangladesh quick in Tests.
“Obviously I didn’t plan to get the hat-trick, but the focus was on my process – my line and length,” he said. “I had to trust my strength. It turned out to be a good day.”
“We had a good partnership in the morning session – Ebadot bhai gave us a good start,” Mahmud said. “I started to bowl well from my end [after that], which helped bowl them out in the first session. It was a big positive for us. We have taken a good lead at the end of the day. We now plan to bat a little bit more tomorrow, and give them a big target.”
Bangladesh are currently 329 ahead with four second-innings wickets in hand.
These are interesting times in Bangladesh cricket. There are so many good fast bowlers that the selectors are able to mix and match them based on conditions. Leaving Shoriful Islam out after his 7 for 48 against Australia in Mackay, the last Test that Bangladesh played, is an example of the sort of big call that Bangladesh are willing to take. And Ebadot and Mahmud gave them nine of the ten wickets in the first innings in Abu Dhabi.
Mahmud, though, stands out in the pack.
He is still quite early in his international career, so he has to figure out a way to manage himself in the three formats. There will always be the temptation to play him in white-ball cricket, although he is yet to prove himself in those.
Crucially, he has shown that a Bangladesh fast bowler can be consistent in Test cricket. The thing with consistency is that it is unsexy. But just ask the Australian fans about McGrath. Unsexy can be cool.
Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
