Nothing can be more pleasing for a bowler than executing a certain game plan and this is where Jubair Hossain excelled on his way to the maiden five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in Chittagong on Friday. Jubair made Brendan Taylor his first Test wicket in the first Test to a ball that was tossed up outside the off stump but landed shorter than the batsman had expected. Taylor went to play it over the top and only ended up giving a catch at mid off to begin his woeful journey in the series.
When Jubair saw Taylor coming to bat again he planned for the same trap and Taylor felt it very soon. The only difference from his dismissal in the Dhaka Test was that this time he was caught at long off.
‘We knew that if we can keep him on the defensive for two to three balls, he then gets restless to play shot,’ Jubair said in the post-day briefing. ‘So after giving him a few dots, I thought of giving him a flight.’
‘He got out playing the same shot [in the first Test]. Whenever I give the loop, he tries to play front. So I thought, okay, maybe he might go for a chance.’
Taylor was not just the only batsman that Bangladesh entrapped with Jubair’s leg-spin. Elton Chigumbura survived three chances to head towards his maiden century and Bangladesh needed somehow to stop him.
Jubair said Mushfiq had advised him to draw the batsman out to play a drive shot and he complied to get an instant reward. Chigumbura fell to the trap in just the second ball of his third spell going for a drive to edge a catch at slip and Jubair wrapped up Zimbabwe innings in his next over to finish with 5-96.
‘Sometimes when batsman plays well, Mushfiq Bhai understands it well. So I follow his advice often. Even today, I tried to follow what he asked me to do and I was successful,’ he said.
The performance was special to Jubair for many reasons but the one he cherished more was the presence of his parents at the ground.
Abdul Jabbar and Sabina Yasmin watched Jubair play just one game at Under-19 level before but he could do nothing to make the occasion memorable.
In Chittagong, a relative lives near the Team hotel, so they decided to take a chance and it inspired their son more than anything.
‘I felt really good as this is my first five wickets,’ said Jubair, the first specialist leggie to represent Bangladesh at the highest level. ‘The best thing about this performance was that my father and mother had come to watch the match.’
This also successfully took him out of the shadows of Sakib al Hasan and Taijul Isalm, team’s two main spinners, who shared 32 wickets between them in the first two Tests.
Jubair’s contribution has largely gone unnoticed despite playing big roles in giving Bangladesh some important breakthroughs.
Jubair said he was not at all worried for his muted presence in the first two Tests.
‘Actually in cricket, everyone has their day and I was waiting for that opportunity and today [Friday] that day came for me and I was able to put it to use,’ said Jubair, a rare breed of wrist spinner, not just in Bangladesh but incricket as a whole.
In the second Test he beat Regis Chakabva by a googly and on Friday a flipper missed the bat of Sikandar Raza in a way that would make even Shane Warne and Abdur Kadir proud.
-With New Age input
