‘He can cope with pace’

Shahadat Hossain Dipu was part of the Bangladesh Cricket Board High-Performance squad in 2021, which trained under British coach Toby Radford.

Two years on, Shahadat has been included in Bangladesh’s Test squad to face Afghanistan later this month, and Radford stated that the right-handed batter was technically the best batter in that squad. “Technically, he was potentially the best batter there. He played so straight, was very well-organised, and he just looked like a really quality player,” the English coach told The Business Post.

While Shahadat is coming off a good Dhaka Premier League season where he scored 480 runs for Prime Bank, the youngster was picked for the Test match on the back of his good showing for Bangladesh A.

Radford said that Shahadat’s technique, since those early days, showed promise of a good red-ball cricketer.

“I think what I saw in him was someone who, without doubt, was a fine red-ball player and could play a long innings and technically very, very sound. I think he has got all the shots,” he said.

According to Radford, what makes Shahadat a great addition for the Test squad is his ability to handle pace. “He plays pace well. I remember we had a couple of throwers and one of them was genuinely quick, and he (Shahadat) handled him really well. I tested him on the machine with pace and swing, and he played that really well. He showed me that he is the kind of guy that has the technique to cope with the faster pitches around the world,” he added.