SPORTS REPORTER

Mahidul Islam Ankon had been on the national team radar for some time, and his big break came during South Africa’s tour of Bangladesh this year after Jaker Ali Anik suffered a concussion. Fresh off the back of a ton in the National Cricket League, he did not quite capitalise on the two innings he played against the Proteas. Yet, he was drafted into the Test squad against the West Indies.

In the tour match, Ankon demonstrated that his 2,078 first-class runs were not in vain, showing his ability to graft and stick to the crease. There were some clean hits during that match in Antigua, and even though he did not make the playing eleven in the Tests, his power-hitting yesterday in the Bangladesh Premier League proved to be the difference for Khulna Tigers against Chittagong Kings in Mirpur.

He came to the crease in the 15th over after the departure of Afif Hossain. With his side aiming for a substantial score, acceleration was the need of the hour, and in his 22-ball innings, laced with six sixes, Ankon delivered just that.

After hitting Shamim Hossain for back-to-back sixes, he took on pacer Shoriful Islam, hitting three sixes in the 17th over, which yielded 20 runs. In Shoriful’s next over, he pounced again, completing his fifty in just 18 deliveries.

In doing so, Ankon recorded the fastest fifty by a Bangladeshi batter in the BPL, overtaking Rony Talukdar. He also equalled Liton Das’s record for the fastest fifty by a Bangladeshi in recognised T20s, matching the 18-ball fifty Liton scored against Ireland in 2023. What made Ankon’s feat even more impressive was that he achieved it in the death overs with a softer ball.

Khulna coach Talha Jubair explained the rationale behind selecting Ankon for the team.

“When we took Ankon, we had it in our minds that he has the ability to score runs quickly,” Talha said.

Ankon had spent the last three BPL seasons with the star-studded Comilla Victorians, often struggling for opportunities. However, he seized his chance yesterday, coming in ahead of Pakistan’s Mohammad Nawaz.

“In last year’s BPL, he would come at the end and get quick runs. This helped us [pick him] as he took 180 scores towards 200 or even more. Ankon worked on his power-hitting and his confidence level is there for all to see,” remarked the former Bangladesh pacer.

Ankon finished unbeaten on 59 off 22 balls, and for Talha, the difference was that Ankon stuck to his “natural game”.

“We had the belief given the mentality that he has shown in practice... One shouldn’t get out of their natural game,” Talha said.