His outstanding bowling performance helped Dhaka Dynamites win the game by two runs against Rangpur Riders.
Just after the match, cricket lovers started discussing about the new comer after watching his performance and started asking a question, precedence over anything else, who is Alis Al Islam?
A sheet is provided to journalists at the beginning of every match of BPL with names of the participating sides’ playing XI. Same was on Friday, but everyone in the press-box was confused about a name which was printed on the sheet as ‘Al Islam Alis’. The question arose in the press-box since then - Who is this Alis Al Islam?
Alis, neither ever played a First-class match nor a List-A match and also never played a T20 match in domestic circuit. But these deficits were not enough to prevent him to take the limelight.
“My name is Alis Al Islam. I was called by Dhaka Dynamites to bowl in the nets. I played in Dhaka First Division Cricket League earlier, and Sujan sir (Khaled Mahmud Sujan, coach of the Dynamites) saw me there. He has a belief on me and this is why he called to bowl in the nets during practice sessions of the Dynamites. And after that, they liked me and called to play for Dynamites in BPL,” Alis said in his life’s first press-meet.
Alis grew up in Boliarpur of Savar and started playing for Kathalbagan Cresent Cricket Club in the Third Division Cricket League for a few years and succeeded to uplift his team to the Second Division Cricket League.
“I used to play in the Second Division Cricket League after playing some years in the Third Division. But getting a call from Dhaka Dynamites to bowl in the nets was very special for me,” Alis told the media.
“Sujan sir told me last evening (Jan 10, 2019) that I have been chosen to play in the playing XI. He said me to get ready mentally, and I was ready to play the first match,” he said adding, “I was nervous as never played a match in a stadium packed with thousands of spectators. In fact, I never played in a stadium before,” Alis insisted after the match.
Alis finished his bowling spell taking four wickets conceding 26 runs which proved to be a match-winning performance for the Dynamites. He helped the Dynamites to avoid first loss of the season.
“He was brilliant. He bowled really well. He has variation in his bowling which is important for a newcomer. It is never easy to perform like this at the highest level of cricket,” Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the captain of Rangpur Riders, didn’t miss the chance to praise Alis.
Like anyone else, Mashrafe also was unaware of the guy. He said only one or two players of Dhaka Dynamites knew Alis before his grand appearance on Friday.
“We lost the match for our own mistakes. We have to give credits to the new guy. He was really up to the mark to handle the pressure during the crunch situation of the match,” Mashrafe further said.
A guy who was completely unknown to the cricketing fraternity of Bangladesh is now known to most of the cricket following people of the country. If he continues to perform like he did in his debut match, there will be very few people to ask the question— who is Alis? Alis has ensured it in his first appearance!