Towhid Hridoy: The adaptable prodigy
'You couldn't hit one boundary!'
In the 2022 BPL final, Towhid Hridoy of the Fortune Barishal was on strike against Comilla Victorians pacer Shohidul Islam for the last three balls of the match with his side seven runs away from victory.
Hridoy had a terrible tournament, averaging just 17 in 10 innings with a strike rate of 97.84, but had the chance to repay the faith shown in him by his team.
Shohidul tried to hit the yorker length thrice but missed his mark every time. But it didn't matter as Hridoy couldn't cash in on any of the deliveries and Barishal fell two runs short.
After the defeat, Barishal coach and Hridoy's cricket mentor Khaled Mahmud Sujon couldn't hide his frustration and told him, 'You couldn't hit one boundary!'
That statement seemingly ignited the fire inside him as in the next season, a new Hridoy burst onto the scene for Sylhet Strikers, raking in 403 runs at a strike-rate of 140.41.
Hridoy later revealed that change in his technique – a much higher backlift and a wider stance – together with a change in attitude towards batting came after some much-needed self-reflection following the failure in 2022.
The stellar BPL season earned him a ticket to the national team, where he carried the same attitude and form, quickly becoming a regular member of the white-ball teams.
However, the chinks in his armour first got exposed in the Asia Cup and then in the World Cup last year.
Hridoy depended a lot on nudging the ball on to the leg-side towards midwicket to score singles and doubles to keep the scoreboard ticking.
But after his first few series, which were against Ireland and Afghanistan, he came across tougher opponents in the Asia Cup, where this weakness of his batting was instantly exploited.
Teams started stationing a fielder in the short mid-wicket region whenever Hridoy got on strike and as a result, his strike rate plunged below 70 in the tournament and the pressure of dot balls also meant he was hitting more rash shots and throwing away his wicket.
The situation remained the same in the ODI World Cup, where he couldn't fulfil the expectations of him, scoring at a strike rate of just above 70, in a tournament mostly dominated by batters.
His inability to rotate the strike coupled with his weakness against slightly fuller-length deliveries on the stumps were enough to evoke talks of Hridoy being yet another age-level prodigy from Bangladesh who never lived up to his potential.
But for the second straight season, Hridoy proved his naysayers wrong in the BPL.
Playing for the Comilla Victorians, Hridoy has surpassed his last year's tally with 447 runs in 13 innings so far at a strike rate of 149.49, the first Bangladeshi to score over 400 at a strike rate of over 140 in consecutive seasons in BPL.
Although the flashy sixes and extravagant shots have gotten the bigger limelight, Hridoy's ability to find gaps to rotate the strike, most notably through the square-leg region, was the main catalyst behind his success this season.
However, Hridoy's success in BPL doesn't guarantee he would perform well against better teams on the international stage. The nature of international cricket is such that very soon teams will figure out new problems in his technique and zero in on that. But if Hridoy has proven one thing in his brief career is that he is adaptable and willing to make the changes necessary to improve his game and stay a step ahead of the bowlers, a habit that could turn him into a long-term prospect for Bangladesh.