J Omar

Javed Omar Belim is a solid opening batsmen who made his ODI debut for Bangladesh in 1995. Blessed with patience and a sound technique, Omar found the going tough in the ODI format as he struggled to score quickly. At a young age, he was selected to tour England in 1989 and was part of the Bangladesh U-19 squad in the Asia Cup. His consistent performances at the junior level helped him gain selection to the national squad in 1994/95. He had a torrid start to his career and did not feature for the next three years in the squad. He made a comeback in 1998 tri-series featuring India and Pakistan but struggled to create an impact.

His first notable contribution came against Sri Lanka in the first match of the Asia Cup in 2000. He remained unbeaten in the end as he notched up 85 but he consumed 146 balls in the process. Following Bangladesh's entry into Test cricket, Omar finally found his footing and took to Test cricket instantly. Against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in 2001, he scored a gritty 62 in his first innings and then carried his bat to make 85 not out in the second innings as he became the third Test player to achieve this feat on debut. More success followed in 2003 when Bangladesh toured Pakistan. In the second Test at Peshawar, he scored his first century as Bangladesh posted a competitive total. However, the team buckled under pressure to lose the match by nine wickets.

Omar was struggling for consistency from that point and his low point came in 2007 during the second Test against India in Dhaka. Omar bagged a king pair as he got out to Zaheer Khan first ball in both innings of the Test Match. After a string of poor performances, he was dropped from the squad. With Bangladesh having a relatively stable opening partnership in Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, the chances of Omar coming back into the squad look difficult.

Javed retired from all forms of cricket after a first class game on January 3, 2014.

By Siddharth VishwanathanAs of April 2014