Mohammad Rafique

Left arm spinners have always played a pivotal role in Bangladesh's cricketing fortunes. Mohammad Rafique was among those who carried the whole weight of the Bangladesh bowling attack on his shoulders. Blessed with a clever arm ball and a big heart, Rafique has been an outstanding success for Bangladesh in both ODIs and Tests.

He started out as a left arm seamer for Bangladesh Sporting in 1985. Following a stint with that club, he played for Biman Bangladesh airlines in 1988 where he came under the guidance of former Pakistani all-rounder Wasim Haider and he advised Rafique to change to slow left-arm bowling.

His first major success came in the 1997 ICC Trophy where he excelled with the ball. He picked up 19 wickets in nine matches at an average of 10.25, including 4/25 in Bangladesh's semi-final victory against Scotland. He also showed prowess with the bat as he opened the innings in the final against Kenya. He got the team off to a flier by smashing 26 off just 15 balls.

He performed consistently in the ODI arena, but it was in the Test arena where he had more success. In only his third Test, he picked up 6/77 against South Africa at Dhaka in 2003. Rafique was the star performer on Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan in the same year. He troubled most of the Pakistani batsmen with his arm ball as he snapped up 17 wickets in three games with two five wicket hauls. His crowning moment came against Australia in Fatullah in 2006 when Bangladesh came close to achieving a huge Test win. Rafique picked up his best match haul of 9/160, including 5/62 in the first innings as the Tigers had Australia on the mat. However, the Aussies turned the tide and managed to win the match by three wickets.

Rafique is also a very handy lower order batsmen. His 77 in an ODI against Kenya helped them register their first win against them in seven attempts. In the Test arena, he is best remembered for coming at number nine and blasting a brilliant 111 against the West Indies at Gros Islet in 2004. Against Australia in Chittagong in 2006, Rafique took apart Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill by blasting 65 off 53 balls, including six sixes.

His consistency has enabled him to be in the squads of both the World XI for the Super Series against Australia in 2005 and the Asia XI for the exhibition series against Africa XI in 2007. In the 2008 series against South Africa, Rafique became the first Bangladesh player to achieve the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests. Against Zimbabwe in November, Rafique achieved the double even in ODIs. He announced his retirement from international cricket after 2008 and joined the ICL. He broke off with the league in 2009 and came back into the mainstream fold. He is still playing first-class cricket for Dhaka Division.

Rafique retired from all forms of cricket in 2010. The last game he played was for Dhaka Division in April 2010. He is now plying his trade in coaching and was the bowling coach for Dhaka Gladiators in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Fun Fact: Mohammad Rafique's nickname is Moe. Moe is one of the characters in the comedy 'The Three Stooges'. Larry and Curly are the other two characters.

By Siddharth VishwanathanAs of April 2014