DHAKA, June 30, 2019 (BSS)- While the role of No.7 in ODI cricket has been completely changed of late because of their duty to provide the team an impetus in multiple ways, Bangladesh were a team to lag behind in this aspect.
With the emergence of Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, they have found a player who could be an ideal No.7. The young talented cricketer has ticked almost all boxes so far to prove as to why he could fit him perfectly in the No.7 position in batting order.
Bangladesh used several players in this place of late with Sabbir Rahman the last option. But none could prove them fit the way Mosaddek did.
Even though Mosaddek used to bat at middle order position in the domestic cricket, in national team, his role was a little bit like bits-of-pieces player who can give some runs lower down the order and bowl some tight overs. But the young gun hinted during the tri-series final that he could be an ideal No.7 rather than just be a bits-of-pieces player when he smashed a 27 ball-52 not out against West Indies to help Bangladesh clinch the title.
Basically England’s all out cricket made No.7 batsman a more prominent since the 2015 World Cup.
A No.7 can ideally resist the middle order collapse and could pace the innings towards the innings as well as give the side some good overs-the qualities that Mosaddek is believed to have in abundance.
In this World Cup, he played some fluent cameo to give the innings an impetus towards the end-notably his 20-ball-26 against South Africa and more prominently a 24 ball-35 against Afghanistan. Those two innings proved to take the Bangladesh’s total out of reach of the opponents eventually.
He meantime bowled some good overs to stem the opponent’s run flow. Mosaddek however is yet to get the job to resist middle order collapse thanks to Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim’s excellent form-an only area which he should prove to make him proper No.7.
Whereas he was supposed to be not the part of World Cup squad. He only came as the back-up of Mahmudullah Riyad, who was unable to bowl due to shoulder injury sustained during the New Zealand in February this year.
Mosaddek though is a handy batsman, his off-spin capability was considered to draft him in the squad but it was almost sure he will be in the bench. But the rest is the history.
He was not even supposed to play the tri-series in Ireland but injury to several players including Shakib Al Hasan in the final match opened the gate for him. As Sabbir Rahman was considered as No. 7 batsman, Mosaddek had no chance to play indeed.
But due to Shakib’s injury during the final of Tri-series against West Indies, Sabbir came to bat at Shakib’s position at No.3 while Mosaddek was accommodated for No.7 position.
Sabbir was dismissed for a duck but Mosaddek struck a 27 ball-52 not out to help the side win the game from the jaws of the defeat and Bangladesh won their first ever multinational trophy. From then on, he kept scoring vital runs at over 100 strike rate in every match, along with his handy off-spin.
“Batting at number seven is challenging for everyone. It’s tough to play a big innings at that position. Team’s run become more important at that point. Everyone tries to make run as quickly as possible at this position. I was doing the same during the premier league. I try to keep the strike rate above 100,” he said.
“And when I’m bowling I have to bowl around 5-6 overs. Dot balls are more important than picking up the wickets. Specially the way I’m going through.” “I batted at top order in premier league. And here, the top-order batsmen they are more capable than me. The records they hold do not let me go upward. But I will work on it to make myself prepared for that position for future.”