The ongoing Dhaka Premier League noticed some young players flourishing through their performance at the half-way stage. Mohammedan Sporting Club is leading the points table largely due to the splendid bowling display of left-arm spinner Naeem Islam jr, who with 13 wickets is the second highest wicket-taker so far. Victoria Sporting Club remained hot on heels courtesy of consistent performance of young middle-order batsman Al-Amin, who scored 372 runs with a century and four fifties at an average of 93 in six matches
A few other cricketers like Shahnaj Ahmed of Prime Bank, Salman Hossain of Cricket Coaching School, Nur Alam of Brothers Union, Ariful Haque of Mohammedan caught the attention with their performance, though they are not as consistent as Naeem and Al-Amin.
Both Naeem and Al-Amin represented Bangladesh at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2012 but could not grab the spotlight unlike team-mates Anamul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Nurul Hasan, Abu Hider who went in to play for the national team.
The 22-year old Al-Amin blamed his poor luck to remain away from the spotlight so far.
‘For the last two years I played for Abahani but did not get enough opportunity to bat,’ said Al-Amin. ‘I had to bat mostly down the order because of the formation. ‘I was picked as a bowling all-rounder by Abahani,’ said Al-Amin, who also bowls off-spin.
‘As a result, I had to bat down the order. Now I am thriving as a batsman as my batting order suits me.
‘I scored quite a few runs in the NCL and it seems that I am continuing with the flow in the league,’ added Al-Amin, who also represented Dhaka Metropolis.
While Al-Amin credited NCL for helping him to show his potential as a batsman the experience of Naeem is totally opposite.
The presence of Taijul Islam, Saqlain Sajib, Sanjamul Islam made it difficult for Naeem to get regular opportunity in Rajshahi divisional side despite
showing his potential in phases.
He performed reasonably well for Duronto Rajshahi in the second edition of Bangladesh Premier League but still had to wait two more seasons to make his mark.
‘Since I did not get regular chance in Rajshahi team, I was also left out of BCL,’ said Naeem.
Naeem’s exploit for Mohammedan included two back-to-back four wicket haul, though he was reported for suspect action in the first match.
Naeem blamed a certain physical condition for apparent flaws in his bowling action.
‘Basically my left hand is naturally bent so during bowling it looks I am chucking. But I don’t really chuck,’ said Naeem.
‘I was also reported during 2012 Under-19 World Cup and got tested in Canberra. The testing revealed no flaws in my action,’ said the 22-year old bowler.
-With New Age input
