Hasan shows Tigers have more than express pace

If Australians did not know Hasan Mahmud before the first Test in Darwin, they certainly know the Bangladesh pacer now.

Hasan announced himself with a career-best six for 55 at the Marrara Stadium yesterday, helping the Tigers bowl out a formidable Australian side for 198 on the opening day of the Test.

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Much of the buildup to the series had centred on Nahid Rana’s express pace, and his absence due to injury had left Bangladesh’s pace attack looking somewhat depleted. Hasan, however, showed that the Tigers have more to offer than sheer speed, producing a dream day with the ball through movement, control and intelligent planning.

Hasan was hardly in the conversation for this series before Rana’s injury, but he seized his opportunity by making the most of his menacing seam movement and his ability to adapt to the conditions.

The surface itself proved a little tacky, possibly because of the dew, as Steve Smith later suggested. It was not the usual Australian pace paradise, but there was enough in the pitch for the Bangladesh quicks to work with. Taskin Ahmed and Hasan made the most of it in the opening session, setting the tone for the Tigers.

The pair, with Ebadot Hossain joining the attack later, found the right lengths. They put Australia’s batters under pressure, with Travis Head and Jake Weatherald getting a streaky start. The ball was neither coming onto the bat easily, nor was there extraordinary bounce or movement off the pitch.

Hasan, in particular, generated late movement. He kept the ball on a probing channel before moving one away from Weatherald, who chased it only to edge through to Litton Das after Australia had put on 45 without loss.

His dismissal of Head was the product of an even more deliberate plan. In the 14th over, Hasan moved one away from Head before coming around the wicket for the fourth delivery. The ball angled in before seaming away with a hint of extra bounce, taking the inside edge and chopping back onto the stumps.

Head had all the reason to praise Hasan during the day’s play, as the pacer revealed at the post-day press conference.

“That was a plan [for Head] coming up before the ball. We just had a chat with our analyst about things to work on, like how you are going to start your overs, use the crease, and come over the wicket,” Hasan said.

“If the ball is getting movement, I change my bowling side and come around to see how it goes. That is how I was creating chances with the new ball.”

His six wickets were a testament to the clarity of those plans.

“When the toss happened and they let us bowl first, that was a bit of an opportunity,” Hasan said.

The pace trio backed themselves to make the most of it, and their ability to set up batters showed they had clarity.

Fresh from his County Championship experience with Kent, Hasan also found the conditions familiar.

“After bowling there [England], I felt confident about how and what lengths to bowl here,” he said.

Bangladesh may not have had Rana in the mix, but Hasan’s guile and execution more than filled the void left by their fastest bowler, giving the Tigers a memorable start to their first Test series in Australia in 23 years.