He was 16 when the first APL season was played in October 2018 — and he had
not yet bowled with a hard ball. He first did so in 2020, after finishing
school, so 2026 is his APL debut, eight years after the league began.
APL Career
Nahid Rana did not play in the first APL season in 2018. He was 16 when the
tournament was played in Sharjah that October, and his name appears in none
of the five squads — he was still a tennis-ball cricketer in Chapai Nawabganj,
and he did not bowl with a hard ball until 2020. His first-class debut was
still three years away. So when Paktia picked him at the Dubai draft, it was
a debut eight years in the making, not a return.
Paktia took him in the Diamond round at the player draft in Dubai on
3 November 2026, at the Diamond price of US$65,000. He plays under captain
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, with Azhar Mahmood as head coach and Waqar Younis as
mentor, and the season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE. He arrives as
the quickest bowler in the draft: the only Bangladeshi to bowl 152 kph in
international cricket, a PSL champion in May 2026, and the holder of the best
ODI figures by a Bangladeshi.
Paktia are a new club for 2026, not a continuation of the 2018 Paktia
Panthers, so Rana has no old APL record to defend. His job is simpler and
harder than that: lead a new side's pace attack in a league where the ball
is new, the grounds are in the UAE, and the batters have seen his pace on
television but never faced it in this competition.
APL career stats
Rana has no APL figures yet. The 2026 season has not started, so the rows
below are blank, and there is no 2018 row — he did not play in the first
season. His international and domestic figures are in Career outside APL.
4 for 44 in Pakistan's second innings, as Bangladesh won the second Test
and sealed a historic 2–0 series win. In that innings he hurried Babar Azam
and Saud Shakeel with his pace, and one delivery was clocked at 152.0 kph —
the fastest ever by a Bangladeshi in international cricket.
Why it mattered: the ball that broke the 150 kph barrier for Bangladesh, in
the series that announced him to the world. He took six wickets in the two
Tests, and finished 2024 ranked second in the world for average pace in Test
cricket, behind only Mark Wood.
2nd Test vs West Indies, 2 December 2024, Sabina Park
5 for 61 in 18 overs, his maiden Test five-wicket haul, as West Indies were
bowled out for 146 in their first innings. He took four wickets on the third
morning, after removing Mikyle Louis the previous evening, and in one over
he bowled three deliveries over 150 kph.
Why it mattered: his first five-for put Bangladesh 18 runs ahead, and they
went on to win by 101 runs — their first Test win in the West Indies since
2009, and their third away Test win of 2024, the most they had ever managed
in a calendar year.
1st Test vs Pakistan, 12 May 2026, Mirpur
5 for 40 in 9.5 overs in the fourth innings, his career-best Test figures.
Chasing 268, Pakistan collapsed from 152 for 5 to 163 all out: Rana took
Shan Masood, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan — the last with a 147 kph
nip-backer — then Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Why it mattered: the first fourth-innings five-wicket haul by a Bangladesh
pacer in Test history, and it sealed a 104-run win — Bangladesh's third
straight Test win over Pakistan, and their first at home against them.
1st ODI vs Zimbabwe, 6 July 2026, Harare
6 for 21 in ten overs, including two maidens, as Zimbabwe were bowled out
for 141. He had five wickets for 12 runs inside his sixth over, and Zimbabwe
were 70 for 8 before a late stand took them past 130.
Why it mattered: the best ODI figures ever by a Bangladeshi, beating
Mashrafe Mortaza's 6 for 26 against Kenya from 2006. Bangladesh still lost
by 25 runs, bowled out for 116 — the record came in a defeat, which is why
it is remembered as much for the bowling as for the result.
PSL final, 3 May 2026, Peshawar Zalmi vs Hyderabad Kingsmen, Lahore
2 for 22 in four overs, including a maiden and 15 dot balls, as Peshawar
Zalmi beat Hyderabad Kingsmen by five wickets to win the PSL title. He
dismissed Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck with a sharp bouncer, then bowled
Hunain Shah with a 148 kph delivery.
Why it mattered: he had left the tournament in mid-April on workload orders
from the Bangladesh board, and was flown back on a special clearance for the
final alone. Nine wickets in five matches at an economy of 5.44 earned him
a place in Wisden's PSL 2026 Team of the Tournament — and Zalmi their first
title in nine years.
Playing style and strengths
Rana is a right-arm fast bowler, six feet five inches tall, with a high-arm
action that gets steep bounce off a length. His stock ball sits at 140 to
148 kph, and he has touched 152 kph in Tests — the fastest delivery by a
Bangladeshi in international cricket. The short ball is his weapon: in Jamaica
in December 2024 he bowled three deliveries over 150 kph in a single over,
and his best spells have come when he has bowled short and straight at the
body rather than searching for swing.
He can move the new ball, too. His first ODI wicket was a 147.9 kph
nip-backer that bowled Sediqullah Atal, and the ball that dismissed Mohammad
Rizwan at Mirpur in May 2026 jagged back sharply at 147 kph. His control has
caught up with his pace: ten overs, two maidens, six for 21 against Zimbabwe,
and an economy of 5.44 across five PSL matches. The gaps are honest ones —
his T20I debut against the UAE cost 50 runs in four overs, including two
no-balls, and he bats at No. 11, with 21 runs in 12 Tests.
Records and milestones
Fastest delivery by a Bangladeshi in international cricket: 152.0 kph,
second Test against Pakistan, Rawalpindi, September 2024.
Second in the world for average pace in Test cricket in 2024, behind only
England's Mark Wood and ahead of Mitchell Starc.
First Bangladesh pacer to take a fourth-innings five-wicket haul in Tests:
5 for 40 against Pakistan, Mirpur, 12 May 2026.
Best ODI figures by a Bangladeshi: 6 for 21 against Zimbabwe, Harare,
6 July 2026 — beating Mashrafe Mortaza's 6 for 26 against Kenya from 2006.
Third ODI five-wicket haul in 14 ODI innings — the second-fastest
Bangladeshi to three, after Mustafizur Rahman (nine innings).
Maiden ODI five-for: 5 for 24 against Pakistan, Mirpur, 11 March 2026, in
his sixth ODI.
Maiden Test five-for: 5 for 61 against West Indies, Sabina Park, December 2024.
5 for 32 against New Zealand, Mirpur, 20 April 2026; 4 for 41 against
Australia, Mirpur, 9 June 2026, twice over 150 kph.
PSL 2026 champion with Peshawar Zalmi: nine wickets in five matches at an
economy of 5.44, and 2 for 22 in the final; named in Wisden's PSL 2026 Team
of the Tournament.
Second-highest wicket-taker in the 2022–23 National Cricket League, with 32
wickets for Rajshahi Division.
Diamond pick at US$65,000 for Paktia at the APL 2026 draft.
Career outside APL
Rana grew up in Chapai Nawabganj, a district on Bangladesh's north-west border
with India, playing cricket with a taped tennis ball. He did not bowl with a
hard ball until 2020, after finishing his higher secondary exams, when he
joined a cricket academy in Rajshahi. A year later, on 31 October 2021, he
made his first-class debut for Rajshahi Division in the National Cricket
League. His maiden five-wicket haul came on the same date a year later,
against Barishal Division, and he finished the 2022–23 tournament as its
second-highest wicket-taker with 32 wickets. His Twenty20 debut came in the
BPL, for Khulna Tigers on 24 January 2023 — one for 20 in four overs, bowling
at 140 to 150 kph — and his List A debut followed on 21 March 2023 for
Shinepukur Cricket Club. He was in Bangladesh's squad for the 2022 Asian Games
in Hangzhou, and won a bronze medal without playing a match.
The international call came in March 2024. He made his Test debut against Sri
Lanka at Sylhet on 22 March, taking three wickets on the first day — both
centurions, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis, after their 202-run stand
— and five in the match. The Pakistan tour that September made his name: six
wickets in two Tests, a career-best 4 for 44 in the second Test at Rawalpindi,
and the 152 kph delivery. He played one Test in India, at Chennai, and was
left out at Kanpur. In December he took his maiden Test five-for, 5 for 61
against West Indies at Sabina Park, in a 101-run win. His ODI debut came
against Afghanistan in Sharjah on 11 November 2024 — two for 40 in ten overs,
his first wicket a 147.9 kph nip-backer that bowled Sediqullah Atal. At the
Champions Trophy in February 2025 he played one match, against New Zealand
in Rawalpindi, dismissing Kane Williamson for five with a 148.9 kph delivery
after being left out of the opener against India. His T20I debut followed on
19 May 2025 against the UAE in Sharjah: two for 50 in four overs, in a
two-wicket defeat.
As of 10 June 2026 he had played 12 Tests, taking 38 wickets at 36.84 with two
five-wicket hauls and a best of 5 for 40; 12 ODIs, taking 25 wickets at 21.80
with two five-fors and a best of 5 for 24; and one T20I, taking two for 50. In
first-class cricket he had 112 wickets in 31 matches at 27.62, with five
five-wicket hauls and a best of 5 for 40. With the bat he is a No. 11: 21 runs
in 12 Tests at 2.62, with a highest score of 11. The figures have moved since
that snapshot — the 6 for 21 against Zimbabwe came on 6 July 2026, and a count
from late October 2026 put his ODI tally at 32 wickets in 15 matches.
Away from Bangladesh duty he has played in two franchise leagues. In the BPL he
played for Khulna Tigers in 2023 and Rangpur Riders from 2024–25, taking four
for 27 against Sylhet Strikers on 31 December 2024 — Player of the Match, with
two catches — and three for 11 against Dhaka Capitals in January 2026. In
January 2026 Peshawar Zalmi bought him for the Pakistan Super League. He took
nine wickets in five matches at 5.44, left the tournament in mid-April on
workload orders from the Bangladesh board, and was flown back on a special
clearance for the final, where his two for 22 helped Zalmi win their first
PSL title in nine years.
Teams played for in APL
2026PaktiaDiamond pick, season starts 27 December 2026
Paktia. The side took him in the Diamond round at the player draft in Dubai
on 3 November 2026, at the Diamond price of US$65,000. He plays under
captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz, with Azhar Mahmood as head coach and Waqar Younis
as mentor. The season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE.
Did Nahid Rana play in APL 2018?
No. He was 16 when the first season was played in Sharjah in October 2018,
and his name appears in none of the five squads. He was still playing with a
tennis ball in Chapai Nawabganj and did not bowl with a hard ball until 2020,
three years before his first-class debut. So 2026 is his APL debut, not a
return.
How fast does Nahid Rana bowl?
His fastest recorded delivery is 152.0 kph, bowled in the second Test
against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in September 2024 — the fastest ever by a
Bangladeshi in international cricket. He regularly bowls between 140 and 150
kph, and twice went past 150 kph in an ODI against Australia in June 2026.
The ball that dismissed Kane Williamson at the 2025 Champions Trophy was
timed at 148.9 kph.
What are Nahid Rana's best bowling figures?
In Tests, 5 for 40 against Pakistan at Mirpur on 12 May 2026, in the fourth
innings — the first fourth-innings five-for by a Bangladesh pacer. In ODIs,
6 for 21 against Zimbabwe at Harare on 6 July 2026, the best figures by a
Bangladeshi in the format. His first five-for in either format was 5 for 61
against West Indies at Sabina Park in December 2024.
Has Nahid Rana played in the PSL?
Yes. Peshawar Zalmi bought him in January 2026 for the Pakistan Super
League, and he took nine wickets in five matches at an economy of 5.44. He
left the tournament in mid-April on workload orders, then flew back on a
special clearance for the final in Lahore on 3 May 2026, taking two for 22
as Zalmi beat Hyderabad Kingsmen by five wickets to win the title.
