Sabbir Rahman

An asset in the field to add to his temperament in the middle order and his legspinners, Rahman has been involved in no fewer than three controversies since 2016

The Cricketer | 04/05/2019 at 09:49

Born: November 22, 1991

Role: Right-hand bat, right-arm legspin

An allrounder hailing from Rajshahi in west Bangladesh, Sabbir Rahman’s career has been characterised by bludgeoning displays and untimely controversies.

Rahman first came into the limelight with an unbeaten 33 from 18 balls against Afghanistan to help Bangladesh win the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games, having initially caught the eye with his legbreaks on the domestic scene with Dhaka and at the 2010 U19 World Cup with his country.

His lack of runs in the one-day and first-class format initially held him back from a national team call-up despite flourishing in T20 cricket, but in 2014 that chance finally arrived in the shortest format against Sri Lanka, scoring 26 on debut.

The 27-year-old had to wait until November that year for his ODI bow against Zimbabwe, where again he impressed with an unbeaten 44, and his promising performances for Bangladesh in white-ball cricket saw him selected for the 2015 World Cup, where he tallied 182 runs in six innings.

Rahman’s ODI career has since gone from strength to strength, forming a integral part of the side that secured series victories over Pakistan, India and South Africa and off of which he made his Test debut against England in October 2016.

However, Rahman had struggled to convert his starts into significant tallies, but he has shown signs of being capable of addressing the problem with 77 in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy final against India before a maiden ODI century against New Zealand in February this year.

An asset in the field to add to his temperament in the middle order and his legspinners, Rahman has been involved in no fewer than three controversies since 2016, the latest of which saw him slapped with a six-month ban by the Bangladesh Cricket Board for abusing a fan on social media.

However, now back in the squad, Bangladesh will hope Rahman will begin to make more headlines on the field.

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