Five days after India wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Bangladesh batter Shamim Hossain had played his first international match in the form of a T20I against against Zimbabwe in Harare.
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25 months down the line, the two left-handed batters share another common aspect with respect to their ODI debuts. Much like Kishan, even Hossain has commenced his ODI career with a first-ball six becoming only the sixth player to do so in the history of the format since 2002.
Before Hossain and Kishan, the others to have achieved this feat were Zimbabwe’s Richard Ngarava (vs Afghanistan in 2017), Scotland’s Craig Wallace (vs Afghanistan in 2016), Canada’s Jawad Dawood (vs Afghanistan in 2010) and South Africa’s Johann Louw (vs Bangladesh in 2008).
Shamim Hossain Becomes 1st Bangladeshi Player To Hit First-Ball Six In ODI Career
Bangladesh’s 144th ODI cricketer, Hossain made it a point to clear his intentions from the word go as far as his ODI career is concerned. Having already played 17 T20Is in the last two years, Hossain has now become the first Bangladeshi cricketer to get off the mark (on the first ball itself) in ODI cricket with a six.
One of the three changes made to the Bangladeshi Playing XI for their second match of Asia Cup 2023, Hossain walked in to bat at No. 7 after former captain Mushfiqur Rahim (25) was run-out in the 47th over. With the team already in a solid position, the 23-year old player further improved the situation on the penultimate delivery of the over.
Facing former Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib (1/58), Hossain nonchalantly hit an ordinary delivery for a six over deep square leg to announce his arrival in style at the Gaddafi Stadium today.
Hossain, however, couldn’t clear the boundary again during the course of his brief knock. Victim of another run-out just like Rahim in the second-last over, Hossain returned to the pavilion after scoring 11 (6) at a strike rate of 183.33.
Ishan Kishan Had Hit First Ball In ODI Cricket For Six 25 Months Ago
Kishan, who had batted at No. 3 in his debut ODI in July 2021, had targeted Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya to kick-start a maiden ODI half-century with a maximum.
Chasing a 263-run target at the R Premdasa Stadium, Kishan was the second half-centurion alongside captain Shikhar Dhawan as the two batters shared a match-winning 85-run stand for the second wicket. Apart from coming across as a source of amazement for bountiful Indian fans, Kishan had even managed to impress Dhawan with the first scoring shot of his ODI career.
