Ebadat comes into his own, finally

Bangladesh pacer Ebadat Hossain eventually had the last laugh. During the day-night Test against India at the Eden Gardens, Ebadat hogged the spotlight with his grand salute celebration after picking up a wicket and continued with it, as his trademark. Ebadat celebrated in such a manner as part of his tribute to the Air Force given that it was his base before joining cricket - a sport that came his way as though it was his destiny.

Ebadat joined BAF in 2012 as a volleyball player, more due to job security than for the love of it. Although back home in Sylhet, he played cricket as a genuine fast bowler. The right-arm fast bowler came into the spotlight when he was awarded the "fastest bowler" award in the countrywide Robi Fast Bowler Hunt contest in 2016. Though he remained an integral part of the national Test set-up, in reality, his trademark celebration turned out to be the talking point in the cricketing circles considering that he hardly managed to pick regular wickets in international cricket, picking 11 wickets in his first 10 Tests.

All the pace-bowling coaches in Bangladesh, right from Courtney Walsh to Ottis Gibson, had a liking for the pace bowler, which further raised eyebrows as nobody in the cricketing fraternity were sure of his potential. There was something in him - a very natural and smooth action and his ability to bowl at a consistent pace - though it hardly paid dividends with his lack of accuracy.

It was during the tour of Zimbabwe, however, that Ebadat really figured out how to bowl in the right areas and continued to grow from strength to strength. Before the Harare Test, Ebadat played 7 Tests and picked 8 wickets at an average of 90.71 with an economy rate of 3.89. Since that Test, Ebadat played five Tests, picked 8 wickets, with his average falling drastically down to 47.50 while the economy rate also came under control at 3.27.

Against Pakistan in Chattogram before the Test series, Ebadat bowled a seven-over spell to give away only two runs that can be termed as a perfect execution of pace bowling. Though he was unlucky not to pick any wickets in his own backyard, it was not the case in New Zealand as he thrived to reap the benefits of his determination, with four vital wickets.

Unlike the past, Ebadat maintained good lines and lengths and was brave enough to bowl fuller than shorter with consistent pace over 140 kph, and coupled with some swing, seemed quite unplayable at times. Bangladesh pace bowling coach Ottis Gibson was pleased to see his blue-eyed boy