The Bangladesh pace attack is as good as it has ever been, but it is the spinners who are still calling the shots.
The Bangladesh pace revolution is real ... but in ODIs
Make no mistake. Starting with the South Africa tour of 2022, Bangladesh have evolved into one of the strongest pace attacks in ODI cricket. Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed, both in their early thirties, are now supported by Nahid Rana, only 23 and the quickest bowler in their history. The next-best in the country – Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib – are all young.
We have already discussed all of that in these pages. Since several of them play Test cricket as well, it is only logical to think that Bangladesh boast of a very strong pace attack as well. The famous triumphs in Mount Maunganui and Kingston, the Test wins against Pakistan – they all point towards that.
There is some truth in that. Bangladesh has historically not produced world-class Test fast bowlers. No Bangladeshi seamer has taken a hundred, or even eighty Test wickets. But, of the eight Bangladeshi fast bowlers with 35 Test wickets, four (Taskin, Ebadot Hossain, Nahid, Hasan) are contemporary, and are among the top five when ranked by average.
Things are indeed looking up, but perhaps not as much as perceived. If one puts the start of 2022 as the beginning of Bangladesh’s pace revolution, here are how the numbers stack up.
Fast bowlers by team since January 1, 2022
Until end of Bangladesh-Pakistan Test series 2026
| Team | Players | Tests | Average | SR |
| South Africa | 19 | 33 | 23.78 | 42.3 |
| Australia | 10 | 45 | 24.34 | 43.8 |
| India | 14 | 40 | 28.00 | 47.2 |
| England | 21 | 51 | 28.33 | 51.5 |
| New Zealand | 19 | 32 | 28.53 | 51.6 |
| Sri Lanka | 11 | 28 | 29.53 | 49.4 |
| West Indies | 16 | 32 | 30.28 | 51.4 |
| Bangladesh | 8 | 32 | 35.16 | 58.3 |
| Zimbabwe | 15 | 14 | 35.87 | 55.6 |
| Afghanistan | 12 | 6 | 36.43 | 59.0 |
| Pakistan | 14 | 28 | 37.32 | 62.4 |
| Ireland | 9 | 9 | 40.01 | 62.6 |
The numbers tell two stories. First, the bad news. Despite an undeniable surge, the Bangladesh seam attack is not in the top half of the 12 Test teams. Of the four teams below them, three do not play in the World Test Championship. If one includes only WTC Test matches, the Bangladesh fast bowlers have an average of 36.65 and a strike rate of 61 – both second-worst among all teams. Even in the recently concluded series, the Pakistan fast bowlers (26.80 and 48) outdid their Bangladeshi counterparts (34.16 and 50).
What is the good news, then? That Bangladesh are backing their fast bowlers. They have tried only eight of them in 32 Tests – in other words, one every four matches. Only Australia – who have been backing their three senior pacemen as a pack for more than a decade – have a better number (4.5). No other team has a Test/pacer ratio of even three in this period.
Spin to win is still the mantra
It is probably evident that Bangladesh’s pace revolution, while in an advanced stage in ODIs, is probably in its early days in Test cricket. The spinners, on the other hand, have been superb throughout their history. Their leading four wicket-takers in the format are all spinners, and three of them – Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz – have more than 200 wickets each. Not even the famed Indian quartet of the 1960s and 1970s could boast of three 200-wicket spinners.
Even as Shakib – the greatest cricketer in their history – faded away from the format, Taijul and Miraz have ensured the quality never dropped.
Spinners by team since January 1, 2022
Until end of Bangladesh-Pakistan Test series 2026
| Team | Average | SR |
| South Africa | 23.68 | 46.5 |
| India | 25.33 | 48.6 |
| Australia | 27.46 | 54.5 |
| Bangladesh | 29.82 | 59.1 |
| with Shakib in XI | 35.56 | 70.0 |
| without Shakib in XI | 26.89 | 53.6 |
| New Zealand | 31.43 | 55.9 |
| Pakistan | 33.46 | 54.6 |
| Sri Lanka | 36.64 | 65.0 |
| West Indies | 39.86 | 69.6 |
| England | 40.57 | 69.9 |
| Afghanistan | 43.77 | 67.1 |
| Zimbabwe | 46.88 | 78.5 |
| Ireland | 49.34 | 78.2 |
Handling Shakib’s absence could not have been easy. Not only is he the greatest cricketer in their history but also the one whose absence has hurt their balance the most. He belongs to a rare set of cricketers who could simultaneously be in contention for the best batter and the best bowler of the Test XI. Yet, led by Taijul and Mehidy, they did that brilliantly. The only three teams above them in the table are also the only ones to have played in the WTC finals over this period.
Much has been written about the role of the fast bowlers in Bangladesh's four famous wins – one in New Zealand, two in pre-dustbowls Pakistan, and one in the West Indies. Yet, across the four Tests, Mehidy accounted for the most wickets (15), while Taijul had the best average (12.33). Their pacers averaged 24.55 and struck every 45.2 balls in these four Tests; for the spinners, the numbers read 23.21 and 52. And these were in conditions that were supposed to assist seam more than spin.
For a long time, Bangladesh’s Test wins were few in number, and were inevitably led by spinners. They are winning more now (even away from home) – and their spinners are playing a role just as vital. In the recently-concluded Pakistan series, Mehidy and Taijul also took crucial five-wicket hauls in the first and second Tests respectively.
Like every Test team in history, Bangladesh’s legacy will be determined by the quality of the pace attack. That is still a work in progress. But if they continue to rise as the spinners continue to call the shots, perhaps we are witnessing the the first steps of their ascent.
