Growing up in Magura, a small town away from the capital Dhaka, Hasan was hooked on football. The only link with cricket was an occasional game with a taped tennis ball, but it was enough for Hossain to see the potential Hasan had with both bat and ball.
Hossain invited the young lad to play for his club in the Magura cricket league and Hasan responded by claiming a wicket off his first delivery. Hasan’s career took off and he is now a top all-rounder in the official one-day rankings ahead of stalwarts like Jacques Kallis, Shahid Afridi and Shane Watson.
In the 102 One-Day Internationals (ODI) that Hasan has played since his debut in 2006, the left-hander has scored 2,834 runs at 34.98 with five hundreds and 17 half-centuries. He has also claimed 129 wickets at 28.80 with his left-arm spin, with a best of four for 33 against New Zealand last year.
Hasan has loads of self-confidence and is determined to outdo the other, whether a teammate or rival. “Whenever anyone outperforms me, whether in academics or sport, I tell myself that if he could do it, so can I,” Hasan told Cricinfo. Often asked if he was a batting or bowling all-rounder, Hasan has one answer, “I am a cricketer.”
The left-arm spinner was a star performer for Bangladesh in the last World Cup in the Caribbean, where the minnows knocked out India in the first round and then stunned South Africa in the Super Eights.
But he goes into his second World Cup a reluctant leader, having publicly denounced the responsibility thrust on him since he wanted to concentrate on his batting and bowling.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2011.
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