Nahid Rana

Nahid Rana's Test debut against Sri Lanka in the spring of 2024 really set the pulses racing in Bangladesh. The 21-year old tore into a long run up in Sylhet, bowling at times in excess of 140kph. He took three wickets in his first day as a Test cricketer. Bangladesh lost the Test badly, but there was enough time for Nahid to show his capabilities at the highest level.

Nahid is an outlier in many ways, not just because he hails from Chapainawabganj in the country's northwest border. He is an out-and-out fast bowler, which, even amid the pace revolution, is rare in Bangladesh. He took up cricket at eighteen, which is a rarity among most Bangladeshi professional cricketers. Nahid also couldn't take the Under-19 route to the senior team, which is another rarity.

Still, he made a strong start to his first-class career, taking 41 wickets in the 2022-23 season, his second in competitive cricket. He took only five wickets in the BPL to properly catch the selectors' eye, before getting called up to the Test side in 2024.