Remember the previous Test in Mirpur? Hridoy was out in both innings playing an ill-timed shot. The regret of that mistake must have followed him. But that is the beauty of cricket. The same game that makes you hang your head over yesterday’s mistake gives you the chance to stand tall today.
Redemption, perhaps, has a beauty of its own. There is remorse in it, and the joy of finding yourself again. Sometimes there is a celebration that makes it seem as if, at last, a player has settled his account with himself.
Like the scene after Towhid Hridoy’s double century in the Sylhet Test. He ran towards the dressing room with his helmet perched on the end of his bat. What joy on his face! As if it were not just a double century, but a long-standing debt finally repaid.
Perhaps this is how redemption is done.
That is what Hridoy did. To say only that he did it would be an understatement. He played an innings that will be talked about in the history of Bangladesh’s Test cricket for many years. It is certainly one of Bangladesh’s best Test innings, and there may even be a debate over whether it is the best of all time.
The result of the Sylhet Test will not be known for another two days. But there is no need to wait for the result to grasp the greatness of Hridoy’s innings.
Let us go back a little. When he walked out to bat yesterday, Bangladesh were in trouble at 22 for 2. The team was something like a sinking boat. Hridoy himself did not look very comfortable. Watching him at the start, nobody would have guessed that an epic would be written by the end of this innings.
Still, he did not give up. He stayed at the crease and finished the first day unbeaten on 29.
Then, with time, the situation changed, and so did Hridoy’s batting. At times unshakable in defence, at times fierce in attack. He played each ball on its merits and did not let a chance to find the boundary slip. The applause in the Sylhet stands grew louder. In the dressing room, his teammates rose to salute him. Ebadot Hossain even offered a bow midway through.
A few numbers show how the innings evolved. His first 50 took 109 balls and 178 minutes. The next 62 balls, over 80 minutes, took him to his century. Another 64 balls and 67 minutes brought up 150. From there to the double century? Just 69 balls and 90 minutes. In other words, the longer he batted, the faster his bat spoke. At the time of writing he was unbeaten on 236 off 351 balls.
But this innings cannot be measured only in runs and balls. Its finest story lies with the last two batters. At one end, Hridoy. At the other, one teammate after another walking back. The others seemed to be giving their wickets away. But Hridoy never lost his thread. He went up again and again to Taskin Ahmed and Taijul Islam to reassure them: don’t be afraid, just give me the strike. What a remarkable sense of responsibility!
Hridoy added 172 runs with the last two batters. He did not just survive; he hit fours and sixes when they were needed. Blocking ball after ball, he tested the opposition’s patience. It is easy to imagine how frustrating the job had become for the West Indies bowlers: no wickets coming, and no chance to get at the batter at the other end. Hridoy was there.
In such a situation many batters think of their own milestones. Hridoy thought of the team. Taking a lead for Bangladesh had become bigger than his own double century. After Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, Hridoy is the fourth batter to score a Test double century for Bangladesh. But he is the first Bangladeshi to turn his first Test century into a double century. And he did it in only his sixth Test innings. Reaching such a height so quickly is no small thing.
There was a time when a Test double century was almost a dream for Bangladesh’s batters. Now another name has been added to that list. But the importance of Hridoy’s innings will not stop at a personal record. He has also set a standard for the next generation.
How to pull a team out of a collapse, how to keep fighting with the last two batters, how to put the team’s needs above your own milestone: Hridoy has given a lesson in all of it.
Now there is only one question. Can his teammates deepen the colour of this innings? Hridoy has done his job. He has hauled Bangladesh from the rubble of 22 runs to a lead. Now it is up to his teammates to make sure this epic ends with a win.
Because some innings are not only written on the scoreboard. They stay as courage in the hearts of future cricketers.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report