Afif Hossain Dhrubo (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: আফিফ হোসেন ধ্রুব; born 22 September 1999) is a Bangladeshi

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. In February 2018, he was named in Bangladesh's

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) squad for their series against Sri Lanka. He made his T20I debut for Bangladesh against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

on 15 February 2018.

Early life

Afif was a student of the

Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP) (, Bangladesh Institute of Sports Education) is the national sports institute of Bangladesh. It is residential and is located at Savar Upazila, Savar, about north-west of the capital, Dhaka, and about ...

, Bangladesh's biggest sports institute, that has also produced the likes of

Shakib Al Hasan Shakib Al Hasan (; born 24 March 1987) is a former Bangladeshi international cricketer who played Test cricket, Test, One Day International, ODI and Twenty20 International, T20I cricket for the Bangladesh national cricket team, Bangladeshi cr ...

Mushfiqur Rahim Mushfiqur Rahim (; born 9 May 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He is a right-handed middle-order Batting (cricket), batter and wicket-keeper in the national team. Mushfiqur started ...

Nasir Hossain Nasir Hossain (; born 30 November 1991) is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He represents Rangpur Division at the domestic level. He made his international debut for Bangladesh in August 2011. Asian Games Hossain was a part of the 13-man Bangladesh s ...

, etc. He was known as a big-hitter at the U-19 level, and coaches found him similar to

Tamim Iqbal Tamim Iqbal Khan ( Bengali: তামিম ইকবাল খান; born 20 March 1989), commonly known as Tamim Iqbal, is a Bangladeshi former international cricketer and commentator from Chittagong who was captain of the national team in O ...

Domestic career

At 17 years and 72 days, Afif became the youngest bowler to take a T20 five-wicket haul on his debut on 3 December 2016 for

Rajshahi Kings Durbar Rajshahi () is a Bangladeshi franchise Twenty20 cricket team. The team is based in Rajshahi in Bangladesh and competes in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), a Twenty20 franchise cricket competition. The team is currently owned by the V ...

in the BPL 2016. Playing in the closing stages of the league phase, he ran through

Chittagong Vikings Chittagong Kings () is a franchise cricket team which participates in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The franchise is based in Chattogram. Franchise history The Chattogram franchise joined the BPL as one of its original members in 2012, ...

with his 5 for 21, including the wicket of

Chris Gayle Christopher Henry Gayle (born 21 September 1979) is a Jamaican cricket team, Jamaican cricketer who has played international cricket for the West Indies cricket team, West Indies from 1999 to 2021. Nicknamed "The Universe Boss", Gayle is wide ...

. Afif made his first-class debut for East Zone in the

2016–17 Bangladesh Cricket League The 2016–17 Bangladesh Cricket League was the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Cricket League, a first-class cricket competition. It was held in Bangladesh from 28 January to 8 March 2017. The tournament was played after the conclusion of the ...

on 11 February 2017. Opening the batting, he scored 105 in the first innings and was named player of the match. On 5 June 2017, in the

2016–17 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League The 2016–17 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League was the fourth edition of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, a List A cricket competition held in Bangladesh between April and June 2017. The tournament started on 12 April 2017 with p ...

, Afif took a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

playing for Abahani Limited. In October 2018, Afif was named in the squad for the Sylhet Sixers team, following the draft for the

2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League 2019, also known as BPL Season 6 or United Commercial Bank Ltd, UCB BPL 2019 Powered by TVS Motor Company, TVS (for sponsorship reasons), was the sixth season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the top level p ...

. In August 2019, he was one of 35 cricketers named in a training camp ahead of Bangladesh's 2019–20 season. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Rajshahi Royals in the

2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League The Bangladesh Premier League 2019–20, also known as BPL Season 7 or Bangabandhu BPL Presented by AKASH DTH and Powered by TVS (for sponsorship reasons), was the seventh season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the top level profession ...

Under-19 career

Afif was the

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

of the Bangladesh U-19 side for the

2016 Asia Cup The 2016 Asia Cup (also called the Micromax Asia Cup T20) was a Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket tournament that was held in Bangladesh from 24 February to 6 March 2016. It was the 13th edition of the Asia Cup, the fifth to be held in Bangl ...

. In December 2017, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament held in New Zealand from 13 January till 3 February 2018. It was the twelfth edition of the U19 World Cup, and the third to be held in New Zealand af ...

. He was the leading run-scorer for Bangladesh in the tournament, with 276 runs. Following Bangladesh's matches in the tournament, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) named Afif as the rising star of the squad. In December 2018, Afif was named in Bangladesh's team for the

2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup The 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup was the third edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup held in Karachi, Pakistan and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Eight teams participated in the tournament including five under-23 age level teams of Test nations and ...

International career

Afif made his international debut in 2018 against Sri Lanka in the first T20I but his second-ball duck with the bat and 1/26 in 2 overs with ball witnessed him to be dropped from next match. He was included in the squad for

2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series The 2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series was a cricket tournament that took place in September 2019. It was a tri-nation series featuring Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe with all the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is). Zimb ...

, and in the first match against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, while Bangladesh was on the verge of defeat losing 6 wicket for 60 runs and still needing 85 runs to win, he came to bat at no. 8 and scored a blistering knock of 52 off 26 balls and made a crucial 82-run stand with

Mosaddek Hossain Mosaddek Hossain Saikat (; born 10 December 1995) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for the Bangladesh national cricket team and for Barisal Division in domestic cricket. He made his international debut in January 2016. He has played across ...

to overcome the target. Subsequently, he was selected for Man of Match award for his knock. In November 2019, Afif was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup The 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup was the fourth edition of the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup held in Bangladesh between 14 and 23 November 2019. Eight teams participated in the tournament, including five under-23 age level teams of Test cricket ...

in Bangladesh. Later the same month, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the cricket tournament at the

2019 South Asian Games The 2019 South Asian Games, officially the XIII South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event which was originally slated to be held from 9 to 18 March 2019 in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal. However, the dates were postponed and the event was ...

. The Bangladesh team won the gold medal, after they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the final. In February 2020, Afif was named in Bangladesh's

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) squad for their series against Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut for Bangladesh, against

, on 6 March 2020. In September 2021, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...

. In February 2022, he scored 93* and helped Bangladesh to get a famous win against Afghanistan in

Chattogram Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

, which is the highest individual score for any Bangladeshi batter in ODI cricket while batting at number 7 and lower. In August 2022, Afif scored 85 runs in 81 balls in the last ODI against Zimbabwe to prevent a whitewash. Bangladesh were able to get to a score of 256/9, and Bangladesh won. He won the "Man of the Match" Award for his efforts. In May 2024, he was named as a reserve player in Bangladesh's squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Afif 1999 births Living people Bangladeshi cricketers Bangladesh One Day International cricketers Bangladesh Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Bangladeshi sportsmen Bangladesh East Zone cricketers Abahani Limited cricketers Shinepukur Cricket Club cricketers Rajshahi Royals cricketers Khulna Tigers cricketers Sylhet Strikers cricketers Asian Games bronze medalists for Bangladesh Asian Games cricketers for Bangladesh Asian Games bronze medalists in cricket Cricketers at the 2022 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games South Asian Games gold medalists for Bangladesh South Asian Games medalists in cricket Medalists at the 2019 South Asian Games Cricketers from Khulna American International University-Bangladesh alumni Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan alumni