Mehidy Hasan became the fastest (in terms of number of Tests) Bangladesh bowler to take 100 Test wickets, when he removed Shayne Moseley on the third evening of the Dhaka Test against West Indies. The offspinning-allrounder got to the milestone in his 24th Test, one quicker than Taijul Islam, who took 25 Tests. Mehidy became the fourth Bangladesh bowler to take 100 Test wickets after Mohammad Rafique and Shakib Al Hasan, apart from Islam.
It was the ninth over of the West Indies second innings, after they had taken a 113-run lead and had lost Kraigg Brathwaite to Nayeem Hasan. Mehidy tossed the ball up, keeping it full, and as Moseley played a defensive shot, it bounced and spun, catching the edge through to second slip, where Mohammad Mithun took the catch.
Mehidy, 23, came into this Test on 98 wickets, having taken eight wickets in the Chattogram Test, in which he also scored his maiden Test century even though it was in a losing cause.
In the ongoing Test, too, Mehidy has made an impact with the bat. On the third morning, Bangladesh had been reduced to 155 for 6 when he walked in to join Liton Das in the middle. Das scored 71, Mehidy 57, the two added 126 runs for the seventh wicket, made sure Bangladesh avoided the follow-on, and gave them a platform to fight towards a series-levelling win.
At the end of the day’s play, Mehidy said that he was glad to be the first offspinner from his country to reach the milestone – the other three are all left-arm spinners – but didn’t want to set end-of-career goals.
“I am very happy to have taken 100 wickets,” he said. “It is slightly more special for me as I am the first offspinner [from Bangladesh] to get to the landmark. I will try to take more wickets for the country, and I look forward to having a long career.
“It is not possible to say how many runs and wickets I will end up with; if you set such a goal, it creates pressure. I want to keep doing well. I want to do well as long as I am playing for Bangladesh.”
Mehidy made an impressive debut in 2016 when he took 19 wickets in the Test series against England, the best series haul by a Bangladesh bowler. This included his first 10-wicket haul, when he finished the Dhaka Test with figures of 12 for 159. A couple of years later, he broke his own record by taking 12 for 117 against West Indies, which is the record for the best match figures by a Bangladesh bowler.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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