Jubair Hossain has been Bangladesh’s discovery of the season. But, in a set-up that deems legspin bowling risky business, he has his work cut out
Mohammad Isam01-Jun-2015Bangladesh’s discovery of the season, Jubair Hossain, discovered many things about himself and his surroundings in the last 12 months. For starters, he found out that he can’t fib his way through a conversation with another legspinner.”Yasir Shah took the umpire’s position one day in the Khulna nets where I was bowling,” Jubair tells ESPNcricinfo. “He asked me how I gripped the ball for the legspin. He showed me his mostly seam (up) grip while I have a somewhat cross-seam grip. Then he said that he can’t bowl the googly too well.”I also told him the same thing, that I can’t bowl the googly that well. (Spin bowling coach) Ruwan (Kalpage) had winked at me for fun. But Yasir caught on and said ‘liar, liar’…” Jubair said with a laugh.But it was much more than Yasir’s grip that Jubair picked up in the course of his journey from a net bowler at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in early 2014, to an international cricketer, in the space of five months. He found fame through impressive performances and people wanted to take credit for discovering him. But Jubair also got unwanted attention when the head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and chief selector Faruque Ahmed tussled over his selection in the World Cup team before and after the tournament. Afterwards, Jubair also had a crash course in the intricacies of Bangladesh’s domestic cricket scene.Just last year, he was asked to bowl in the Bangladesh nets after completing his time as an Under-19 cricketer where he turned more than the odd head with his whip of the shoulder that generated appreciable turn. After troubling a few of Bangladesh’s senior batsmen, he impressed the new team management so much that they asked the selectors to include him in the preliminary squad for Bangladesh’s West Indies tour, attracting the attention of Dhaka’s cricketing circles.He narrowly missed selection when they sought a replacement for Sohag Gazi mid-tour, but was nonetheless picked in the Bangladesh A team, for whom he made his first-class and List-A debut against Zimbabwe A in September last year. He picked up 16 wickets in five games; it was enough to earn him a call-up for the senior team’s series against Zimbabwe.His 11 wickets in three Tests came at an average of 29.27, including a five-for in Chittagong. He took four wickets in two ODIs but then was suddenly rested without any explanation like many of the players during that series. In the ensuing two months, he played just one List-A game for Abahani and missed out on the World Cup squad owing to inexperience.He played five first-class games in the domestic competition and was in the Test squad against Pakistan but missed out on playing the second Test, apparently because of a heel injury he sustained on the morning of the game. Currently he is in BCB’s High Performance squad but his Test place remains in jeopardy for want of competitive cricket.Playing for 17-time champion Abahani was perhaps a mistake for Jubair. The title-chasing club didn’t want to risk playing a legspinner, despite his recent international credentials, because legspin and (to a lesser extent) offspin are viewed with apprehension in Bangladesh’s domestic circuit. They stuck to what every Bangladesh domestic team keeps faith on: two left-arm spinners in the bowling attack. They ended third in the points table but Jubair, who played just one game, lost more than his club did.It was his lack of game time in the Dhaka Premier League that largely worked against him when Taijul Islam was preferred to him. The Hathurusingha-Faruque tangle over Jubair’s selection didn’t help matters either. There was the inevitable question among many about the legspinner’s credentials due to his inexperience in the domestic and international game. Hathurusingha, speaking from experience, insisted that a legspinner would be handy in Australian wickets but his wish wasn’t granted.When asked how he felt when all this happened, Jubair was understandably reticent. “I didn’t really know what was going on. I just saw it in the news,” was all he would offer.Jubair’s journey from a net bowler in early 2014 to an international cricketer in the space of five months was remarkable•BCBBut Jubair didn’t stop taking spin lessons. Apart from talking to Yasir, he sought the wisdom of former Pakistan legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who was Pakistan’s spin coach, during the April-May tour. He made a note of subtle attitude changes that would help him always think like a legspinner.”I spoke to Mushtaq Ahmed in the team hotel on the day they left the country. He told me, ‘You can’t be fearful’. I told him that I sometimes give away a lot of runs, should I start bowling to check runs? He said, ‘it is the wrong way to think. You will think about getting the batsman out.'”He told me ‘by focusing on cutting out the runs, you will bowl haphazardly. You will bowl in one spot, the batsman will try to hit you for three sixes but he will get out once.’ He also told me to bowl aggressively in the nets, like one does in a match. He told me to appeal when I hit a batsman’s pads. He told me to say it is caught when the batsman says it is going for a six. I wrote them down and now I try to apply them when I bowl in the nets.”And Jubair loves to bowl. He calls it in Bengali, roughly translated to greed, but in this context more a craving for bowling legspin and trying out new deliveries.”From my childhood, I have loved bowling. I used to bowl all day, to whoever turned up in the nets. From morning to evening, I just kept bowling. I didn’t bat much. I bowled and fielded a lot. I have this craving to bowl all day. Whoever is willing to bat against me.”I usually try whatever new delivery I pick up. Right now I am trying something new. It excites me. I am trying to control the flipper in the nets. I have control over the googly,” Jubair said.There are only a few legspinners in Bangladesh who are currently playing professionally, many of whom are hardly given the time, space or opportunity to bloom. Bangladesh cricket, particularly captains, coaches and team officials and financiers, does not always appreciate taking risks and legspin is considered a risky asset.Jubair has to fight his way through these prejudices. He plans to play for a long time, and believes that by staying with senior players, bowling a lot and being patient, he can be more mature as an individual.”It is tough to adjust at this level but I have tried my best. The senior players have helped me. I think my bowling has improved slightly in regards to variation and accuracy. All legspinners need a bit of time. I don’t want to rush things. Maturity comes by playing alongside good players. I think I have matured a bit, but there remains a lot to do,” he said.Jubair understands that he has skipped a few steps in Bangladesh cricket to make it to the senior team. But he believes the more he plays, the better he will become as a legspinner.”I got into the national team from the Under-19s basically. I didn’t go through the High Performance programme so my path could have taken me more time but it didn’t. I have 15-20 years ahead of me.I will try to take full advantage of my chances. I will try to prove myself in the coming years. Truth be told, I would like to play more matches. Matches give you more maturity. I will improve faster as a result,” he said.The reality however is that fairytales in Bangladesh cricket don’t last very long. The other reality Jubair has to face, as a legspinner in Bangladesh, is if he doesn’t deliver results (read: pick up wickets and bowls economically), it won’t be long before he is also consigned to the scrapheap. The HP programme must help him, but as he has pointed out, there is no substitute for a competitive atmosphere. Now that the domestic season is over, how will the BCB handle their best discovery, their first legspinner?
