One of the emerging cricketers of Bangladesh’s national team, Afif Hossain is an aggressive left-handed batsman and an occasional right-arm offbreak bowler, who was compared to Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal every so often, before joining the national team. The batter came into the discussion after taking five wickets in his first match in Bangladesh Premier League 2016. He played for Rajshahi Kings in 2016 and a year later, made his first-class cricket debut for the Eastern Region on February 11, 2016. The southpaw took a hat-trick for Abahani Limited in the Bangladesh Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League in 2016. In Bangladesh Premier League 2018, he was picked by Sylhet Sixers. The batsman shot to fame when he took the bowlers apart in the U-19 World Cup to become the highest run-scorer in the tournament, and ICC named him as the rising star of the team. Afif’s T20I debut was a forgettable one against Sri Lanka on February 15, 2018 when he was dismissed for a duck and went for 26 runs in just two overs. He was dropped in the next match. After a year, he made a comeback in the 2019 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series and played a splendid knock of 52 off 26 balls against Zimbabwe to win the Man of the Match award. He was a part of Bangladesh’s squad for the cricket tournament at the 2019 South Asian Games, which won the Gold Medal defeating Sri Lanka in the finals. In February 2020, he was added for the first time in the ODI series against Zimbabwe and made his debut on March 6 but failed to showcase his skills in the victory. At just 21 years of age, Afif is a young power-hitter for a squad that lacks this kind of role. In the rebuilding phase of the Tigers, Afif would be hoping to capitalize on any opportunity presented to him. (As of March 2021)
