Players 2015

Nasir Hossain is one of the young allrounders in Bangladesh who, if handled correctly, could be a long-term prospect for the national team in all forms. As a lower-middle-order batsman, Nasir can bat in different gears depending on the match situation; as an offspinner he has control and accuracy; and his fielding is perhaps the most exciting part of his game. His potential was seen in his first international game, when he scored 63 against Zimbabwe, the highest by a Bangladeshi on ODI debut. That performance led to his Test debut against West Indies in October 2011, a month before his 20th birthday.

That he had a feel for sports was obvious pretty early in Nasir's life: he joined Bangladesh's only sports institute, BKSP, in 2004 as a 13-year-old. In a few years, Nasir quickly became an important member of the institute's league team and played a key role in its promotion to the Premier League. Read more

Mustafizur Rahman is a left-arm pace bowler who came to Dhaka to try out for a fast-bowlers camp in 2012, after he had impressed in an Under-17 tournament in his hometown Satkhira. He was admitted to the BCB's pace foundation and soon caught the coaches' attention to make the Bangladesh Under-19 side for the 2014 World Cup. Mustafizur made his first-class debut for Khulna in the 2013-14 season and after taking eight wickets in the U-19 World Cup in UAE, he was surprisingly picked for Bangladesh A's tour of West Indies. Returning from that short trip, he was viewed as a better bowler and slowly picked up more variations. He initially lacked pace, but built it up through the 2014-15 first-class season, when he took 26 wickets at an average of 19.08. Soon enough, the Bangladesh selectors picked Mustafizur for the one-off T20I against Pakistan, where he removed Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez. Read more

A left-hand opening batsman, Nasir Jamshed has shown enough promise to be considered a long-term prospect in the Pakistan batting line-up. He made his international debut in early 2008, in the home ODI series against Zimbabwe, and though he did reasonably well in his early games, he was dropped in 2009 and spent two-and-a-half years away from international cricket. He returned with his appetite suitably whetted, and 2012 was a particularly memorable year for him, as he scored two ODI hundreds against India, and followed up with one more early the next year to firmly establish himself at the top of the order. An aggressive batsman, Jamshed plays strokes all round the wicket, but also backs it up with sound temperament and an ability to convert starts into big scores.

Jamshed's talent was visible from his junior days, and he made a mark very early in his cricketing career. Following an impressive 74 for National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on his first-class debut when aged only 15, Nasir Jamshed was selected for the Pakistan Under-19s side to play the visiting Sri Lankans. Read more

Mosaddek Hossain, who comes from a family of cricketers, snuck up on Bangladesh cricket's consciousness during the 2013 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, helping Abahani Limited stay afloat in a disastrous campaign. He struck a century and three fifties, before having to head to the Bangladesh Under-19 training camp ahead of the 2014 World Cup in the UAE. The opportunity to get out of age-group cricket quite early proved to be an important milestone in his development.

His first-class debut in the 2013-14 season wasn't memorable: he got a pair against Khulna in Cox's Bazar. But in the following season, he struck 250 and 282, his first two hundred-plus scores in first-class cricket. He added another double-hundred in 2015. A Twenty20 International debut followed in January 2016, but it was a forgettable one against Zimbabwe. By then it was clear that he wouldn't be in coach Chandika Hathurusingha's 2016 World T20 plans. Read more

Confusion remains over Mohammad Irfan's actual height - the PCB has variously measured him at 6'8", 6'10" and 7'1". If he is indeed 7'1", he could be the tallest cricketer around, surpassing his idol Joel Garner. Irfan is a product of rural Pakistan, hailing from the eastern Pakistan town of Gaggu Mandi, which produced another tall former Pakistan quick, Mohammad Zahid. The lack of opportunities in his home town forced him to quit playing cricket and seek full-time employment to support his family. He was working in a plastic pipe factory and playing club cricket before Aaqib Javed had summoned him to the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. Aaqib was enthused by what he saw and soon after, he was playing first-class cricket for Khan Research Laboratories. He took nine wickets in his second game and ended the season with an impressive 43 wickets in ten games. Read more

With two centuries at the 2011 World Cup, including an exhilarating 119 that almost stunned England, Ryan ten Doeschate established himself as one of the finest players the non-Test world has ever produced. Reflecting his dominance, he won the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year Award in 2008, 2010 and 2011.

Born in South Africa, ten Doeschate cites Jonty Rhodes as his hero, and has played for Western Province. He is of Dutch descent, though, enabling him to qualify under the European Citizenship law to play county cricket. With his huge hitting, skiddy bowling and big smile, he soon became a cult figure at Essex, where he has played for a decade.

The rise in Twenty20 leagues around the world have come at a particularly good time for ten Doeschate. His combination of belligerent hitting, particularly to the leg side, and canny medium-pace have earned lucrative contracts not only in the IPL but also in Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Read more

Yasir Shah made his first-class debut in February 2002 but had to wait nine years to play international cricket. An ODI and two T20s later, he was back out of the reckoning, seemingly forgotten forever. The recall, when it arrived, came at a time of crisis for Pakistan, when Saeed Ajmal was banned for chucking in September 2014.

Yasir didn't just grab the opportunity; he made everyone forget they were supposed to miss Ajmal, spinning his way to 12 wickets in his debut series at an average of just over 17, as Pakistan whitewashed Australia 2-0. Bounding in with the energy of his spiritual forbears Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed, but with the legbreak rather than the googly as his go-to weapon, Yasir quickly won a horde of admirers including Shane Warne, who praised his "energy and shape on the ball, also his over spinner and patience", and proclaimed he would finish with more than 200 Test wickets. Read more

Dawid Malan is an aggressive left-handed batsman of power, panache and obvious class.

Like many of his more illustrious countrymen, Shahzaib Hasan was only in his teens when he was fast-tracked into the Pakistan team. A robust and ungainly opening batsman, he enjoyed healthy returns in his debut first-class season, scoring 607 runs in ten matches for Karachi Blues in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In domestic one-dayers, he has scored 250 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 96.11, which saw him drafted into the squad for the 2009 World Twenty20 and he came highly recommended by Rashid Latif and Basit Ali, men with a keen eye for Karachi's talent.

Hailing from Malakand agency in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), but based in Karachi, Sohail Khan had a debut first-class season in the 2007-08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy few in Pakistan have equalled. The right-arm fast-medium bowler, playing for Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC), took 65 wickets in his first nine matches, with as many as eight five-wicket hauls. The second of his ten-wicket match hauls was 16 for 189, which shattered Fazal Mahmood's long-standing national record for best haul (15 for 76). The performances have catapulted him from obscurity to the fringes of an international debut as Zimbabwe arrive in January 2008 for a series of five ODIs.

As soon as he broke into the side at the age of 22, while a law student, it was apparent that Kumar Sangakkara was destined for more than just batting stardom. The left-handers that had preceded him, like Arjuna Ranatunga and Asanka Gurusinha, had been pugnacious battlers but Sangakkara was cut from more graceful cloth, easing into strokes with the elegance often associated withthose that play with the 'other' hand. The cut and the pull came naturally to him and with growing confidence, he became a more assured front-foot player as well.

Ranatunga had already exploded the myth of the Sri Lankans being meek men who could be bullied, but Sangakkara has refined the belligerence, combining a suave exterior with cutting asides and sharp sledges from behind the stumps. Initially, his glovework wasn't for the purists, but such was his batting ability that there was no question of displacing him from the XI. Read more

A right-handed batsman, Shamsur Rahman played for the Under- 19s, Academy side and A Team before earning a national call-up, when he was included in the squad for the World Twenty20 in England in 2009, but didn't get a game. Nicknamed Shuvo, he was the leading run-scorer in the one-day competition for Dhaka Division that season. He was in good touch the following season as well, where he averaged 67 against South Africa A. 

Mosharraf Hossain, at the age of 23, joined the long list of left-arm spinners to play for Bangladesh when he was handed his ODI debut against South Africa. Hossain impressed during a tied warm-up game between a Bangladesh XI and a strong South African side, picking up three economical wickets, and was ushered into the national side with veteran Mohammad Rafique having recently retired. Hossain bowled alongside the two more experienced left-arm spinners, Abdur Razzak and Shakib Al Hasan, and went for 40 in six overs. Hossain made his first-class debut in 2001-02 for Dhaka Division, where he has enjoyed decent success.

Shykat Ali, a right-hand batsman who bowls medium-pace, was in the Bangladesh squads for the 2008 and 2010 Under-19 World Cups. He scored a fifty as an opener in a one-dayer against England U-19 in November 2009 and also took 3-11 against the same team in another one-dayer. Saikat's favourite cricketer is Jacques Kallis whom he admires for his all-round skills.

Farhad Reza, a middle-order batsman who bowls useful medium-pace, was called up to the national squad for the tour of Zimbabwe in July 2006 after scoring the most runs in the previous year's domestic league. He got his chance in the second one-day international and became the first Bangladeshi to score a fifty - off just 57 balls - on debut. His good form continued on the tour of Kenya that followed and he steered Bangladesh to victory in the first and third one-day internationals.

Nabil Samad is one of the more experienced members of the Bangladesh U19 World Cup squad. He has played 20 first-class matches, and taken 86 wickets at an average of just 20.91. For the Bangladesh U19 team he has played 11 matches, generally being used as a first change bowler. He has taken 12 wickets with a very impressive economy rate of 3.48. His experience and strong form in Bangladesh's matches in the tri-nation series with England and Sri Lanka, look set to guarantee him a starting place in the team that plays in the U19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Abul Hasan shot to fame when he became the first No.10 to score a century on Test debut in 110 years. He achieved the feat against West Indies in Khulna in November 2012, even before he took the new ball - his primary role in the Bangladesh team. Born in Kulaura, a small town in Sylhet, 

Irfan Sukkur (born 22 May 1993) is a Bangladeshi First class and List A cricket player. He was born in Chittagong, Bangladesh.