‘Mahmud’s body mechanics similar to Shoaib Akhtar’

As Bangladesh look to seal the three-match T20I series against Ireland when they meet for the second game in Chattogram today, a lot of focus will once again be on the Tigers' growing pace-bowling unit.

There has been a burgeoning belief in and about the Tigers' pace-bowling unit in recent times and it was Taskin Ahmed who stood tall in the first T20I, registering career-best figures of four for 16 to restrict Ireland to 81 for five in chase of a revised 104-run target from eight overs (DLS method).

Another young seamer, Hasan Mahmud, continued to impress with his skills. With his ability to bowl quick, the cricketer from Laxmipur has emerged as the go-to for the Tigers in the white-ball formats, adding variety to the pace battery.

The 23-year-old has matured immensely since making his T20I debut three years ago and appears to welcome the challenge of putting himself in pressure situations.

That much was evident in the first T20I when Irish openers Paul Stirling and Ross Adair came out with an attacking mindset and amassed 32 runs in the first two overs. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan then handed the ball to Mahmud and the seamer managed to absorb the pressure before conjuring a well-directed yorker that bowled Adair to rock the visitors and bring Bangladesh back into the game.

Local pace-bowling coach Mahbub Ali Zaki worked with Mahmud during his age-level days and informed that the youngster had always been among a rare breed of seamers.

"I have seen him right from the under-16 days and we immediately marked him as a rare find for our pace-bowling department. He has got the same elements as Taskin, who has strong wrist position. Why we termed him rare is because of the hyper-extension in terms of his body mechanics. It is pretty similar to Shoaib Akhtar. Mahmud has a snap wrist, which helps him get sharper cuts into the batter and makes him more lethal as a pacer," Zaki told The Daily Star yesterday.

He has also shown vast improvement under the guidance of Bangladesh's pace-bowling coach Allan Donald, but according to Zaki there are still a lot of areas that Mahmud needs to work on, chief among them fitness.

"I think he still needs to work a lot on his fitness since he is an injury-prone pacer like Taskin. But Mahmud's body is not similar to Taskin's. He is more of a Mustafizur Rahman, who requires a different level of fitness. He is more of a hip-dominant bowler so it is important for Mahmud to continuously do strength training. I am sure he is following that under the national staff," he said.

The lack of venom in the Tigers' pace-bowling unit in the past has hurt Bangladesh badly. However, the current lot of pacers have started to create the culture of healthy competition within the team and that has started to reap rewards.

It will be crucial for someone like Mahmud to keep improving and, according to Zaki, the international cricketer requires something extra that must be worked on continuously.

"Look, we can see how capable our bowlers are, but we cannot be complacent. Taskin can be a great example. Despite having all the talent, he has seen the lowest of lows in his career. But not everyone is lucky enough to make a comeback like Taskin. For Mahmud, these are still early days and the more he plays and takes care of himself, the better he will be in the coming days," Zaki added.