Rubel Hossain, Bangladesh bowler, World Cup 2019 Player Full Profile: Hossain could be Tigers' key bowler in death overs

Rubel Hossian is a genuine fast bowler who can hit the pitch hard and extract bounce out of any sort of a track. The 2019 edition will be his third World Cup and he is expected to pay a key role with the new ball as well as in the death overs for the Tigers. Rubel has pace and experience. As a fast bowler he has played enough cricket to know which area of target according to the match situation. With a slingy action, he was termed as ‘Bangladesh’s Malinga’ at the initial stages of his career. Rubel used to play taped tennis ball cricket in his hometown, Bagerhat and during a nation-wide talent hunt, the scouts of BCB found him. [caption id=“attachment_2146539” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rubel Hossain. AFP[/caption] Soon he was sent to Dhaka for further grooming, where started playing at the age-group level as well as club cricket. His international debut was against Sri Lanka in 2009 and in his very first game, Rubel took 4 for 33 in 5.3 overs which helped Bangladesh to bowl out the opposition for 147. The home team chased the total down without much fuss and registered a surprise victory at Mirpur. In 2010, Rubel showed further evidence of his huge potential when he took 4 for 25 against New Zealand in an ODI in Dhaka. It was that five-match series in which Bangladesh completely outclassed New Zealand with a 4-0 margin. Later in 2013, he became the third Bangladeshi to take an ODI hat-trick when he got rid of Corey Anderson, Brendon McCullum and Jimmy Neesham in consecutive deliveries. He took 6 for 26 in that game, which is till date is best ODI bowling figures. However, prior to the start of 2015 World Cup there were lot of controversies surrounding Rubel’s participation as just before the tournament the cricketer was jailed by the Dhaka court in a case filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act by a Bangladeshi actress. However, later he was granted bail and allowed to travel to Australia and New Zealand to represent the country in the World Cup. And in the match against England in Adelaide, he took 4 for 53 which helped Bangladesh to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. Can he showcase a similar sort of performance in England this time? Well, time will tell. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here