Saif Hassan

Saif Hassan is a compact opening batsman, whose appetite for batting for long periods in Bangladesh's age-group, domestic and representative cricket pushed him onto the international stage at the age of 21. Scores of 117 against Sri Lanka A and a double-hundred five days later in the domestic first-class tournament gave the selectors enough reason to pick him in the Test squad to play India, but he could not debut as expected in the second Test after injuring his right hand while taking a superb catch at gully as a substitute fielder in the first.

He made his Test debut in February 2020, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. It was the realisation of a belief held by some coaches in the BCB who had felt, since 2015, the year of Saif's Under-19 debut, that he would one day open the batting with Tamim Iqbal.

Saif began his cricketing journey in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked. When the family returned to Dhaka, he joined a local cricket academy. Saif stuck at it and made his way through the age-group structure. What always stood out was his languid strokeplay - he once hit ten sixes in a Dhaka league match.

Saif played two Under-19 World Cups, leading in 2018, before he started to make big runs in the domestic one-day and first-class competitions. His 814 runs at 62.61 in the 2018-19 Dhaka Premier League triggered his rise within the domestic ranks and beyond.
Mohammad Isam