The high and low of Bangladesh cricketer/U-19 Coach Mehrab Hossain

• Scored Bangladesh’s first ODI century and a cricketer died by his hands

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Mehrab Hossain

Raman Lamba

Mehrab Hossain, the Bangladesh Under-19 Coach on the current tour to Sri Lanka has not only got the distinction of being his country’s first centurion in One-Day International cricket, but is renowned for a rather sad incident that resulted in the death of a cricketer by his hands.

On 20 February, 1998, Mehrab, playing for Mohammedan Sporting Club against Abahani in Dhaka’s Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, played the pull shot that struck former Indian cricketer Raman Lamba on his unprotected forehead while he was fielding at short leg. Lamba, 38, died two days later due to a blood clot in his head and it took two months for Mehrab to recover from the shock and return to cricket again.

Describing the incident Mehrab told the Daily FT: “I went to bat at no. 3 and bowler Saifullah Khan, a left-arm orthodox spinner, was bowling the last ball of his over. Lamba, who was fielding in the cover area was brought to field at forward short-leg position, but without any abdominal guard and helmet. The wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud, the former Captain of Bangladesh, requested Lamba to wear an abdominal guard and helmet but he refused. The umpire also requested him to take precautionary measures, but he said that it was only the last ball, so there was no necessity and that he was very familiar with the role as he had done it for a long time in Ranji trophy and in county cricket. 

“The bowler bowled a delivery that was too short, and I went for the pull shot. The ball hit Lamba on the left side of his forehead. The ball lobbed to short fine leg where the fielder caught it and I was out. But as soon as the ball hit him, Lamba fell to the ground. He took about 5-10 minutes to recover from the blow and walk off the field. After he went to the dressing room, he started to vomit, which was a bad symptom. They took him to hospital and the doctor kept him under 24-hour observation. 

“After that he started complaining that he had difficulty with his vision. In the morning, they took him to another hospital and took a CT scan. But as soon as they had taken the scan he went into a coma. They did a surgery on his head but after the surgery he was still in a coma, and he never regained consciousness.”

Mehrab said that it took him two months to recover from the shock and get back to normal life and return to cricket.

“I was so shocked; I couldn’t play cricket. I was at home with my family members and colleagues, and they were supporting me saying that it was not done intentionally and that it was an accident. They helped me to overcome the tragedy that had taken place by my hands. After two months, I slowly came back to play cricket again. But I feel very sorry for him because it was an accident. That a man could die by my hands with a bat and ball is something unexpected. Even now, I feel sorry for him.  May Allah grant him Jannah.”

Mehrab returned to play for Bangladesh and became the country’s first international centurion, scoring 101 off 116 balls against Zimbabwe at Dhaka in a tri-nation tournament before the 1999 World Cup. He represented Bangladesh as an opening batsman in nine Tests and 18 ODIs.

“I have been with the Bangladesh Cricket Board for the last four years. I have been handling the Under-19 team for the last 1½ years,” he said.

Mehrab said that Bangladesh were still in the process of looking for the best combination for the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, which they will defend, having beaten India in the final to win the 2020 World Cup in South Africa.

“From the last series with Afghanistan, two players were left out and two other players were brought in for the Sri Lankan tour. We are going to India on 23 November to play two teams from India and one from England. The schedule has not been finaliSed,” said Mehrab. 

“There may be one or two changes; we are just looking at the best combination. That is the process we have been doing for a long time. We have a squad of 25 players for the World Cup and we are trying to make all of them play.”

Explaining the process of how the team is picked for the World Cup, Mehrab said: “In our system, we don’t have school cricket, but district cricket. We have a tournament for Under-13, 15, 16, and 18 from 64 districts. From the Under-18 group we pick about 50-60 players, then we make four teams among them and play 50-over matches. From there, we pick 22 players for the Under-19 squad. This is how it goes.”