Nahid revives Pakistan's art — against Pakistan

It was all going well for Pakistan.
Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel looked composed and settled at the crease, both already into double figures. Bangladesh had a 44-over-old soft Kookaburra in hand and time was beginning to run out to make the decisive breakthrough needed to win the match.
Tight bowling from either end would stem the runs, but it would not deliver the prize Bangladesh craved — victory. They had already experienced the hollow feeling of a draw in this ICC World Test Championship cycle in Galle against Sri Lanka last year, and had no intention of settling for the same again.
They needed wickets. A whole cluster of them, in a very short period of time.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto had Nahid Rana waiting in reserve, holding him back for the moment when the match truly needed to be turned on its head. The timing had to be perfect. The Kookaburra cherry had to be shiny on one side and rough on the other to generate reverse swing. And if it did, with Nahid's raw pace and rapidly improving skill set, things could change very quickly indeed.
They did. Dramatically and decisively. The 23-year-old returned to the attack at the 44-over mark with two set Pakistani batters at the crease. He struck with his very first delivery, producing a wicket maiden that removed Shakeel with a sharp away-moving delivery that found the outside edge.
He returned in his next over, conceded just one run, and then produced the delivery of the match — a thunderous 147kph in-deeper that crashed through Rizwan's defences and sent the stumps cartwheeling.
Taijul Islam removed Hasan Ali before Nahid trapped Noman Ali in front and then bounced out Shaheen Shah Afridi, with Mominul Haque taking a simple catch at short leg. Pakistan had lost five wickets for just 11 runs. The match was over.
Nahid finished with a career-best 5 for 40 from 9.5 overs — his second five-wicket haul in Test cricket — with his final spell of 4.5 overs yielding four wickets for just 10 runs. It was a spell unlike anything previously produced by a Bangladeshi.
He combined reverse swing with extreme pace — a craft long associated with Pakistan's greatest fast bowlers. Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Amir and many others mesmerised the cricketing world for decades with that very skill. On Tuesday in Mirpur, Nahid used Pakistan's own trademark weapon against them and snatched the Test match from their grasp.
It was also the first time a Bangladeshi pacer had claimed a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a Test match — a historic milestone to accompany a famous triumph.
It was not the first time Nahid had delivered under pressure. His previous five-wicket haul came in Kingston in December 2024 against the West Indies, where he claimed 5 for 61 to help set up another memorable Bangladesh win.
Earlier that same year, he had taken 4 for 44 in Rawalpindi as Bangladesh defeated Pakistan in their own backyard. Each time, the impact came in a short but devastating burst of fast bowling that shook the opposition to its core.
But on Tuesday in Mirpur, Nahid did not just take wickets. He instilled fear.
In the first innings, Nahid had been hit by a bouncer from Afridi. He responded in kind — opening his spell in the second innings by striking debutant Azan Awais flush on the helmet, right on the star of the Pakistan logo, before later returning to bounce out Afridi himself.
Shanto was asked about the incident during the post-match presentation and did not shy away from the subject.

"We know how special Nahid is and how fast he bowls, and along with that his skills are slowly developing too. So we enjoyed it a lot. And it definitely feels good to see the opposition being afraid against him," Shanto noted.
What made Nahid’s spell all the more remarkable was the element of surprise — not just for Pakistan, but for Bangladesh themselves. The ball reversed far more sharply than anyone had anticipated from a 44-over-old Kookaburra, and even Shanto admitted he and wicket-keeper Litton Kumar Das were caught off guard by the movement Nahid generated.