Nahid Rana stunned the cricketing world with his raw pace during Bangladesh’s historic 2-0 Test series triumph over hosts Pakistan, clocking over 150 kmph while also claiming his career-best figures in the second Test. Even though Bangladesh cricket has been reaping the benefits of forming a potent pace group across formats in recent years, the factors behind the emergence of talented quicks have not been focused on a large scale. The Test series triumph against Pakistan in Rawalpindi would not have materialised if pacers like Hasan Mahmud, Nahid, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed had not outshone the quicks of Pakistan -- a country historically known as the ‘land of pacers’. What comes as a hopeful sign for fans and a sweet headache for the team management is that these four aforementioned pacers are not the only ones available in the Tigers’ pace tank. Khaled Ahmed, who was also part of this Pakistan series, Ebadot Hossain, currently rehabilitating from an ACL injury that saw him out of action for more than a year, and white-ball regulars Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman are all part of the Tigers’ current pace battery. While they gel together in the national team under the guidance of foreign coaches, the story of their emergence began under local coaches to whom they turn to whenever needed. The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan reached out to Nahid, and the excerpts of his interview are provided below:

Nahid Rana stunned the cricketing world with his raw pace during Bangladesh’s historic 2-0 Test series triumph over hosts Pakistan, clocking over 150 kmph while also claiming his career-best figures in the second Test. Even though Bangladesh cricket has been reaping the benefits of forming a potent pace group across formats in recent years, the factors behind the emergence of talented quicks have not been focused on a large scale. The Test series triumph against Pakistan in Rawalpindi would not have materialised if pacers like Hasan Mahmud, Nahid, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed had not outshone the quicks of Pakistan -- a country historically known as the ‘land of pacers’. What comes as a hopeful sign for fans and a sweet headache for the team management is that these four aforementioned pacers are not the only ones available in the Tigers’ pace tank. Khaled Ahmed, who was also part of this Pakistan series, Ebadot Hossain, currently rehabilitating from an ACL injury that saw him out of action for more than a year, and white-ball regulars Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman are all part of the Tigers’ current pace battery. While they gel together in the national team under the guidance of foreign coaches, the story of their emergence began under local coaches to whom they turn to whenever needed. In this special issue of The Daily Star Sports, we look at one such local coach, Alamgir Kabir, and one of his disciples, Nahid, who came to the fore through the recent Pakistan series. The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan reached out to Alamgir, and the excerpts of their interviews are provided below:

Ollie Pope returned to form on his Oval home ground with a first hundred as England captain on Friday's opening day of the third Test against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh's injured paceman Ebadot Hossain has claimed that he is likely to accompany the team for their upcoming tour of India.

Former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid has been appointed Rajasthan Royals' head coach on a multi-year contract ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, the IPL franchise said on Friday.

Working with Herath would benefit Ajaz Patel, Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, said Stead.

After the successful Pakistan tour, the programme's value has finally come to the limelight, especially in how players talked about the benefits of their preparation.

England are seeking clarity over their forthcoming Test tour of Pakistan following reports that matches could be moved to a another country.

The New Zealander has reinvigorated England's Test set-up alongside captain Ben Stokes since 2022 and will seek to bring his attacking "Bazball" approach to the limited-overs sides.

England captain Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the upcoming Twenty20 series against Australia, with Phil Salt stepping up to lead the side.

Bangladesh’s Test win at Mount Maunganui against the then World Test champions New Zealand in 2022 would certainly go down as a historic achievement in the Tigers’ history. But even Mominul Haque, the Tigers’ skipper back then, believes that winning a series away from home evokes a very different kind of feeling within the team than what a one-off win produces.

Will the success against Pakistan put Faruque in a difficult position regarding the decision to remove Hathurusingha from his role?

Murder-accused Shakib continues to have the support of his teammates, informed the Bangladesh captain. 

Pakistan spin wizard Mushtaq Ahmed has been in charge of the Bangladesh spinners for the past two international assignments -- the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies followed by the two-match Test tour of Pakistan. His troops have delivered remarkable performances in both tours but the 54-year-old is yet to be offered a long-term contract. In an interview with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan yesterday, Mushtaq shared his take on Bangladesh’s historic series win in Pakistan and his future with the Tigers.

Opener Head blitzed five sixes and 12 fours as Australia set the highest-ever T20 international first powerplay score of 113/1 for the opening six overs.

Following their historic first-ever Test series victory over hosts Pakistan, the first contingent of the Bangladesh cricket team -- including skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha -- arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 11:20pm on Wednesday night.

There are now no Pakistan bowlers ranked in the top 10 following Bangladesh series.

Bangladesh's six-wicket victory at Rawalpindi that helped seal a historic 2-0 series victory over Pakistan and see them in fourth position in the WTC points table on percentage points, has resulted in some major gains for their players in the latest ICC Test Rankings.

Pakistan cricket was reeling Wednesday after its first-ever Test defeats against Bangladesh, the latest in a string of poor performances which have seen the game hit rock bottom.

The triumphant Bangladesh cricket team will return home following their historic 2-0 Test series win against Pakistan tonight.