Khaled Ahmed's journey from tape tennis cricket to record figures in Durban

When Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque handed the second new ball to Khaled Ahmed ahead of Taskin Ahmed and Ebadat Hossain there were murmurs in Kingsmead's commentary box in Durban on Friday (April 1). After all, the lanky fast bowler from Sylhet Division was a last-minute inclusion in the playing XI, owing to first-choice Shoriful Islam's back pain.

Khaled managed to repay the faith of his skipper by picking two wickets in successive deliveries in his second over of the day when he trapped Kyle Verreynne lbw and had Wiaan Mulder caught at gully. He followed that up with four fiery overs. Khaled, who had picked Dean Elgar on the opening day, finished the first innings with figures of 4-92 - the best bowling figures by a Bangladeshi pacer in a Test match against South Africa in their own backyard.

The right-arm fast bowler so far has played four Tests since making his debut against Zimbabwe in 2018, and in the present context is considered to be a back-up option in the national set-up rather than anything else. "Khaled really bowled well and I think he really deserved five wickets. Earlier he could not pick up wickets but today he bowled in the right areas and the fielding unit really supported him well," Mehidy Hasan said after the game on Friday (April 1).

More than his bowling record, and after coming into the side at the very last minute, what was noteworthy was the way Khaled carried himself, looking threatening more often than not. He was unlucky with an