Survivor Sabbir relishes new life

The opening round of the National Cricket League (NCL) 2024-25 witnessed some notable performances from both the batters and bowlers, but it was Rajshahi Division opener Sabbir Hossain who stood out with his first-class career-best 150 off 139 balls against Khulna Division during his side's second innings at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

The 27-year-old all-rounder, who made his first-class debut in 2017, became a regular member of the Rajshahi squad only last year after overcoming a number of hurdles -- including a fatal car accident while returning from his wedding in 2021.

"In 2021, I had an accident while returning from my wedding. I was in the car with my newlywed wife, my elder sister, brother-in-law, and their two children along with the driver," Sabbir recounted that incident while speaking to The Daily Star on Tuesday.

"When I was leaving Khulna for Rajshahi, the accident happened on the Jashore bypass road. The road usually does not have heavy traffic. I was driving and the accident happened at around 9:00 pm, an hour after we left for Rajshahi," he added.

Sabbir needed around two years to recover completely from the accident, both mentally and physically. When he returned to the field, he scored 400 runs in five matches -- the highest by a Rajshahi batter -- in the last edition of NCL at a staggering strike rate of 89.48. That edition Sabbir got his maiden first-class hundred and two fifties.

Sabbir didn't enjoy much success in the next two tournaments as he scored only 77 runs in three matches of the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) for North Zone and in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) earlier this year, he could make only 10 runs in four matches for Durdanto Dhaka.

However, his Dhaka head coach Khaled Mahmud Sujon still kept faith in Sabbir and included him in a star-studded Abahani Limited squad in the last Dhaka Premier League (DPL). The right-handed batter lived up to the expectations of his coach by scoring 307 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 106.59. He also played some crucial knocks, including a brilliant 91 off 78 balls against Mohammedan in a Super League match.

"If you ask me about the biggest tournament in the domestic circuit, it's the DPL. I initially doubted playing for Abahani as there were so many national cricketers. But Sujon sir told me that if you play a lot of matches in other teams and score 100 or even score higher, there will be one type of hype. But if you score a fifty for Abahani, it will add more value to my career," he said about the support he got from Sujon, who is also the head coach of Abahani.

"Sir [Sujon] helped me very much in that tournament. I played seven to eight matches and played some good innings as well," he said, adding that he always tried to play according to the merit of the ball.

"I always try to score runs whether it's four-day or one-day or T20. I always try to hit the bad balls whatever the format is," added Sabbir, who will represent Durbar Rajshahi in the upcoming BPL.

Other than the severe accident, Sabbir also had to see himself on the sidelines often early in his career due to the team's combination and also faced a tough time during the Covid period.

According to Sabbir, returning to cricket was a "huge challenge" and the hard-hitting batter would only like to carry on leaving his mark on the field going ahead.