It had been more than three years since Mosaddek Hossain last pulled on a Bangladesh shirt, yet on Tuesday in Mirpur he looked anything but rusty. Back in the XI for the opening ODI against Australia, the 30-year-old struck 86 not out, grabbed two wickets and held a sharp running catch. Bangladesh won by 86 runs – only their second one-day victory over Australia in 23 attempts – and now lead the three-match series 1-0.
He admitted afterwards that the road back had felt long. “Definitely, there was frustration as it wasn’t an easy time for me,” he confessed. “Some of you may have seen my struggle. But I always tried to be patient, and complete my job. I always thought that whenever I got the opportunity, I would grab it with both hands. I think I got more than I expected from Allah.”
There was never a shortage of domestic form. Away from international duty Mosaddek captained Abahani Limited to three Dhaka Premier League titles, topping 300 runs each season and collecting 70 wickets with his off-spin across four campaigns. This year alone he is averaging 67.20 with the bat and 20.33 with the ball. Such returns, he felt, deserved a look-in: “I always held the belief that the way I was performing in domestic cricket for the last few years, I would at least get one opportunity. I tried to stay in the present. I didn’t think that there was any feeling [of injustice] from the past. I always stayed ready for the next opportunity when I played matches or when I was working hard in the nets.”
Tuesday’s performance, he readily agreed, was special. “This definitely was my best match at this level,” he smiled. “I would have also kept my strike rate in mind when playing in a similar situation in domestic cricket too. So I tried to shift that mentality from domestic cricket to the international match. It is Allah’s grace that I could be useful for my team, and I wish to continue it this way.”
The management, he said, kept the brief simple: play your game. “I am thankful to the team management for the way they backed me. They gave me such freedom,” he explained. “They just told me to enjoy myself, so I didn’t really feel that I was out there after a long gap. I just reacted with the bat according to the situation. I had a long discussion yesterday with [Mohammad] Salahuddin sir and [Mohammad] Ashraful bhai [the batting coach] about my role.”
“They said that if I tried to play with circumspection when we are 40 for 4, we can only get to 160 or 170, [and] we won’t be able to defend that total. They said that if I tried to play at a normal pace when…” – at that point he trailed off, laughter filling the room, yet the message had clearly sunk in. His acceleration with only the tail for company lifted Bangladesh to a competitive 276, a score their bowlers defended comfortably.
Analysis
Bangladesh’s think-tank have long searched for a lower-middle-order finisher who can also offer overs. If Mosaddek maintains anything close to this level, that puzzle may finally be solved. His off-spin, delivered with a flatter trajectory, found bite on a slow surface, while his batting blended touch with well-timed aggression – a balance the side has too often lacked.
Australia, meanwhile, will rue early wickets lost to loose drives. Their attack, shorn of pace spearhead Mitchell Starc (rested), still created chances but failed to dislodge Mosaddek once he settled. Captain Pat Cummins admitted afterwards that “small moments slipped”, a fair summary of a day where Bangladesh held theirs.
The series resumes on Friday. Bangladesh suddenly harbour realistic hopes of a first bilateral success over Australia; for Mosaddek, simply being back out there seems motivation enough.
