Took a hat-trick at the age of 19, broke Abdul Razzaq’s record, but his/her career did not last long

New Delhi. As an all-rounder, this player played international cricket for 11 years. he/she was counted among the best players of shorter formats but his/her Test career was very short. Bangladesh’s Alok Kapali played 17 Tests between July 2002 and March 2006 and scored 584 runs and took 6 wickets. The interesting thing is that out of these 6 wickets, he/she has a hat-trick to his/her name. he/she achieved this hat-trick by giving only three runs (3/3), that is, apart from taking three wickets of a hat-trick in one innings of a Test, he/she took only three wickets in the remaining 18 Test innings.

Kapali, who bats with right hand and bowls leg break, achieved this hat-trick against Pakistan in August 2003, making a record. By taking a hat-trick in the Peshawar Test against Pakistan (Bangladesh vs Pakistan), he/she became the first Bangladeshi and the youngest bowler in the world to take such a hat-trick in Test cricket. When Kapali made this record, he/she was 19 years and 240 days old. he/she broke the record of Pakistan’s fast bowler Abdul Razzaq (20 years 202 days, vs Sri Lanka).

International career of just 12 days, in the last ODI he/she took a hat-trick and was named Player of the Match but…

Hat-trick completed in two overs, Shabbir-Kaneria-Gul became victims

In the second test of this series between Pakistan and Bangladesh, Kapali took three wickets in Pakistan’s first innings by giving away just 3 runs in 2.1 overs. All three wickets were taken on consecutive balls. After dismissing Shabbir Ahmed and Danish Kaneria on the fifth and sixth balls of his/her second over, he/she dismissed Umar Gul on the first ball of his/her next i.e. third over. After getting Shabbir caught by Mashrafe Murtaza, Kapali completed a hat-trick by getting Kaneria and Gul out LBW. Pakistan won this test by 9 wickets.

‘Dhamal’ with borrowed bats… Andy Sandham, Jimmy Amarnath, Afridi and Dhawan did wonders

Alok Kapali’s record remained intact till 2020
Kapali’s record of taking the youngest hat-trick in Test cricket remained intact till 2020. Pakistan’s fast bowler Naseem Shah made this record in February 2020 by taking a hat-trick at the age of 16 years and 359 days. The interesting thing is that Bangladeshi bowler Kapali made his/her record against Pakistan and Pakistani bowler Shah broke this record against Bangladesh and leveled the account. Naseem completed the hat-trick by dismissing Nazmul Hasan Shanto (LBW) on the fourth ball of the 41st over of the innings during Bangladesh’s second innings, Taijul Islam (LBW) on the fifth ball and Mahmudullah (caught Haris Sohail) on the sixth ball. In this innings, he/she took 4 wickets for 26 runs in 8.2 overs and played an important role in giving Pakistan an innings victory.

Indian cricketers who used to bat with left hand and bowl with right hand, 4 of them scored centuries in their debut test

Also played 69 ODIs and 7 T20I matches

Talking about Bangladesh team’s Hindu cricketer Alok Kapali, his/her Test career with Chittagong of Sri Lanka came to an end in February 2006, but he/she continued to play ODIs and T20 Internationals till 2011. Kapali scored 1235 runs with the help of a century in 69 ODIs and took 24 wickets (best 3/49), while in 7 T20Is, he/she has 57 runs and two wickets to his/her name.

When he/she was called ‘Tuk-Tuk’ for his/her slow batting, he/she responded by scoring the fastest century in Tests

The only ODI century was scored against India
Alok Kapali scored his/her only ODI century against India. On 28 June 2008, in the Super 4 match of Asia Cup in Karachi, he/she played a stormy innings of 115 runs with the help of 10 fours and five sixes while batting at the sixth position. During this, he/she completed his/her half-century with the help of three fours and two sixes in 65 balls and century with the help of eight fours and five sixes in 86 balls. It will be called Kapali’s misfortune that in this match in which he/she achieved a century in ODI like a hat-trick, Bangladesh had to face defeat. Batting first, the target of 284 runs set by Bangladesh was achieved by Team India with the help of Gautam Gambhir’s 90 and Player of the Match Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 116 runs in 43.2 overs by losing only 3 wickets.

6 famous cricketers who changed their names, including players from Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Joining the rebel ICL affected his/her career
Shortly after scoring this century, Kapali joined India’s rebel cricket league ICL (Indian Cricket League). he/she also scored a century in this tournament but was criticised for preferring ICL over the country. Due to this, Bangladesh Cricket Board also banned him/her but it was lifted after he/she left ICL. Kapali returned to the Bangladesh team in April 2011 but could not retain his/her place for long. After the ODI against Pakistan in December this year, his/her international career came to a ‘full stop’.

tag: Bangladesh, Bangladesh cricketer, india vs bangladesh