Senior players helped to settle down my nerves: Aminul

"It is a dream for every player to play international cricket and I am feeling very proud as I could play with my childhood heroes" - Aminul Islam © BCB

Aminul Islam, the batting all-rounder from Bangladesh, had his fair share of ups and downs on his T20I debut versus Zimbabwe on Wednesday (September 18). The teenager picked up a couple of scalps with his legspin, including that of Zimbabwe's skipper Hamilton Masakadza. However, it also turned out to be a bittersweet day for the youngster as he suffered a hand injury and looks set to be ruled out of Bangladesh's next game versus Afghanistan.

In the ninth over of Zimbabwe's innings, Masakadza drilled one back at the debutant and in an attempt to stop it from racing away to the boundary boards, Aminul sustained the injury and needed three stitches on his left-hand. "Masakadza hit a ball straight at me and I wanted to save that and it hit me on my hand," the promising cricketer told reporters. "There are three stitches on my hand, but I am feeling better now and the pain is much lesser. I will follow the physio's instructions."

Aminul, though, cherished his T20I debut, as he got the chance to play with his childhood heroes and also made an impact with the ball. He noted that senior players such as Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan helped him to settle down his nerves. "It is a dream for every player to play international cricket and I am feeling very proud as I could play with my childhood heroes. When I got the chance to bowl, I was a little bit nervous, but Shakib bhai told me to bowl the way I normally do. Later, Riyad [Mahmudullah] bhaiand Mushfiqur bhai also supported me and told me to bowl in the right areas."

The young prodigy is better known for his batting prowess, capsulised by the point that he has picked up just three and two scalps in List A and T20 games. He also played for Krira Shikkha Protisthan in the Dhaka Premier League primarily as a batsman who bowls a bit of legspin.

However, his bowling skills caught the eye of High-Performance Unit's head coach, Simon Helmut. Wahidul Ghazi, who played in the 1988 Asia Cup, Sohel Islam, the former off-spinner, also had good words to say about his bowling.

"Actually, from the start of my career and while playing at age level groups, I used to bowl. There was a gap (when I couldn't bowl) as I had sustained a shoulder injury during the DPL and I stopped bowling. When I came to the High-Performance Unit, I started to bowl as my shoulder got better, and in the camp Simon Helmut helped me with my bowling. Before that I worked with Wahidul Gani and Sohel Sir. I take advice from both Wahid Sir and Sohel Sir to improve my bowling and try to follow their instructions."

In the recent past, young legspinners from Bangladesh have showcased promise only to fade away from the scene. Jubair Hossain, who picked up a five-wicket haul in only his second Test in 2014, is a case in point. "I have seen what previous legspinners have done and I will try to control myself and improve day-by-day, match-by-match; rather than trying too many things," he observed.

Meanwhile, Sohel, Aminul's mentor, told Cricbuzz that it was too early to judge his bowling, but added that his protege has decent control over line and length. "I think it is too early to judge him. To be honest, he is not a big turner of the ball, but what is encouraging is that he tries to maintain a very good line and length, and if he continues to do that, he can certainly go a long way.

"Earlier, he didn't have much of a build-up in momentum during his run to the crease, but as he isn't a big turner, he now rushes through with a quick-arm action and tries to bowl the right line and length."