Hindustan Surkhiyan Desk: An elated Fazle Rabbi, who earned a maiden call-up on Thursday to Bangladesh’s squad for the Zimbabwe ODIs, said that he had at one stage given up hope of getting the treasured call. That is perhaps because not so long ago players past the age of 24 or 25 were thought to have crossed the stage beyond which an international career was unlikely.
The selectors were more keen on young and fresh cricketers from the age levels with hardly any experience of first-class or domestic cricket.
There are some from that group who managed to sustain an international career, but there are also many cricketers who were discarded after failing to live up to expectations despite having many playing years in store.
The case has been similar at the other end of the spectrum. Over the last 10 years, a total of 13 cricketers each in ODIs and Tests have made their international debuts past the age of 24. Pacer Abu Jayed — having made his Test debut against West Indies this year a month shy of his 25th birthday — is the latest in that particular list, which is full of cricketers who have fizzled out after their debuts.
Names like Shamsur Rahman, Marshall Ayub, Nazim Uddin, Ziaur Rahman, Elias Sunny, Arafat Sunny and Sunzamul Islam populate the list and there were high expectations of all of them because they were thought to be hardened campaigners.
There is a saying in cricket that the best years of a batsman start after the age of 25 as he then reaches a level of maturity and experience that helps him realise his strengths and weaknesses.
Bangladesh opener and the country’s highest run-scorer Tamim Iqbal is the perfect example. He started his international career at the tender age of 17 as a flamboyant, hard-hitting opening batsman with huge potential but he was yet to hit upon the right approach to score runs consistently.
Tamim eventually established himself as one of the most assured Bangladesh batsmen, and it came through experience and a greater understanding of his game, which he took to the next level.
The mindset has started to change in Bangladesh cricket with selectors seeing domestic cricket as a stage to prepare for the highest level rather than a venue for has-beens to live out their playing days.
Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has set a great example for all demoralised domestic cricketers labelled as old cricketers, with the term ‘no longer worthy’ often used to define such cricketers in the past. In January this year, Razzak made a comeback after four years during the second Test against Sri Lanka at the age of 36 as reward for his continued brilliance in the domestic circuit.
Another left-arm spinner, Nazmul Islam, made his International debut earlier this year at the age of 27 following consistent performances in domestic cricket. His maturity and experience has helped him cope with international cricket so far.
30-year-old left-hander Fazle is the latest addition to the Tigers’ ODI squad and the challenge for him will be to follow the examples of Nazmul and Razzak and prove that age is just a number.
