Hailing from a middle-class family in Rajshahi, taking up cricket as a profession was a risky path according to Sabbir Rahman's parents. But that didn't dent Sabbir's dream, which was ignited by Shahid Afridi's 37-ball century against Sri Lanka. At the age of 16, he made his first-class debut playing for Rajshahi Division. However, it was in the year 2010, when Sabbir grabbed headlines. After a good outing in the Under-19 World Cup, his unbeaten 33 off 18 deliveries against Afghanistan helped his team win a gold medal in the Asian Games.

Rahman made his T20I debut for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in February 2014 and scored 26. He had to wait till November to play his first ODI where he scored an unbeaten 44. His promising start in the ODI format prompted the selectors to name him in the 2015 World Cup squad despite lack of experience. He had a decent outing Down Under tallying 182 runs in six innings.

After the World Cup, he was an integral part of the Bangladesh ODI set-up that tasted series victories against Pakistan, India and South Africa. Rahman made his Test debut against the visiting England team in October 2016. After failing in the first innings, he came back strongly in the second essay scoring an unbeaten 64 which almost helped his team win. They fell short of the target by 23 runs and the scenes of Joe Root consoling the debutant who was distraught went viral.

A solid middle-order batsman, more than decent leg-break bowler and whose fielding is an asset makes him a valuable player in the Bangladesh team across all formats.

By Abhinand Raghavendran