Hridoy’s record-breaking 350 reignites Test hopes

Hridoy hogged the spotlight after his record-breaking unbeaten 350-run innings against South Africa A in Potchefstroom, South Africa, a venue close to his heart, considering it is where he lifted the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2020.

After all, Hridoy had to join the Bangladesh A team in South Africa along with Nurul Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin as several cricketers were injured while a few had visa issues. That forced the board to send him along with others to make sure the touring party had enough cricketers.

As a result, when asked at the airport what his plan was for the A team series in South Africa as he was departing from Dhaka to join his teammates, Hridoy looked like he was not losing sleep over the four-day game.

Instead of thinking of it as a preparation for the scheduled tour of South Africa in November comprising across format games, Hridoy insisted he is eyeing to get accustomed with the condition as they have white-ball series against the Proteas followed by the ODI World Cup next year.

“The preparation is very important and as we have a national team tour and the World Cup (ODI), will try to prepare for it,” the white-ball batting star told reporters before entering the airport.

It was not surprising though considering he waited for more than three years to get into the Test team after making his white-ball debut and was thrown out of it after three days of Test cricket, his only game in whites so far following his failure in the second Test of the tour against Zimbabwe at Harare.

Many argued Hridoy was picked a bit too early for Test cricket while others pointed out at his technique, saying they feel it suits white-ball cricket. Few backed him for a place in the Test side.

While the national selection panel insisted that it will be difficult to get into the national team and if someone manages to sneak through in any format, they can hope to get enough opportunities to prove their worth, it certainly was not applied in Hridoy’s case, and it was the reason he was reluctant to think too far ahead as far as his Test ambition is concerned.

Hridoy, who became only the third Bangladeshi batter to score a triple hundred in first-class cricket and surpassed Tamim Iqbal’s unbeaten 334 and Raqibul Hasan’s unbeaten 313 to register the highest first-class score by a Bangladeshi batter, still remains skeptical about his chances in red-ball cricket despite his heroics with the bat.

“This is not entirely my call, as a professional player I always want to do well, I have said this on many occasions before, how many matches I will play for the national team will depend on the selectors, if I get the opportunity I will try to do well,” he said after the game when his attention was drawn regarding red-ball plans.

Hridoy will be a topic of discussion ahead of Bangladesh’s next Test series, with his marathon innings against South Africa A certainly impossible to ignore when the selectors sit down to pick the Test squad. But the bigger challenge lies ahead. More than simply accommodating him in the squad, it is important to make him believe that he will have his share of opportunities going forward, rather than being thrown out of the Test squad as has happened on previous occasions.

The right-handed batter hardly seemed concerned about his red-ball future, and that proved to be a blessing in disguise as it allowed him to express himself freely in the middle against South Africa A and showcase his red-ball potential with a landmark achievement.

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