Rubel Hossain ⚾

‘The Bangladesh Tigers have knocked the England Lions out of the World Cup,’ were the words of Nasser Hussain after Rubel’s full, pacy delivery knocked out James Anderson’s stumps in the 2015 World Cup. Bangladesh qualified for the knockouts for the first time and Rubel ran all across the Adelaide Oval. That’s the picture, the pacer bowler will remember for a lifetime.
 

Born on January 1, 1990, Rubel Hossain is a fast bowler with a slightly slingy action - which gave him the nickname ‘Bangladesh’s Malinga’. He made his international ODI debut for Bangladesh in January 2009 and made an immediate impact taking 4/33 helping Bangladesh record an upset win over Sri Lanka in Dhaka. Rubel began by playing taped tennis ball cricket in his hometown, Bagerhat. He was noticed in a talent hunt programme where he topped the speed gun.
 

On 29 October 2013, he became the third Bangladeshi bowler to take a hat-trick in ODIs. He got it against New Zealand in Mirpur. The batsmen who were his victims included Corey Anderson, Brendon McCullum and Jimmy Neesham. He also got his best bowling figures (6/26) in that match. Rubel went quiet after a superb World Cup in Australia. There was a dip in his form, but that didn’t hamper his team’s performance as Bangladesh completed the troika of ODI series wins against Pakistan, India and South Africa. He continues to be part of the Bangladesh squads in the longer formats despite his high economy rate as he can trouble any batsman with his pace.