Sohag Gazi

Domestic career

A pacer, he made his first-class debut in January 2001 for Kings XI Punjab against Chittagong, going on to become a regular throughout the 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons.

A strong start to the 2012/13 season, including an innings of 119 in the opening game of the season against Khulna earned him his maiden Test call-up, and subsequently his Test cap.

He made his One Day debut in October 2010, helping Barisal reach the National Cricket One Day League Final of that year although he failed to take a wicket in a three-wicket defeat for his side.

In 2011, he played for the Bangladesh Academy against a Bangladesh XI, the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI against the touring West Indians and then Bangladesh A against West Indies. He also played two One Day games for Bangladesh A against the England Lions in 2012.

International career

An off spinner in Bangladesh cricket is a rarity, but a cricketer turning up from Patuakhali, one of the southernmost districts of Barisal, has made a mark with that brand of bowling. Sohag Gazi is the rare specialist offspinner who grew up right by the Bay of Bengal, and has travelled the length and breadth of the country to be recognised as one of the promising slow bowlers in Bangladesh. His run-up is short, even by spinners' standards, but his bowling action itself is a whir, followed by a tight follow-through.

The call-up to the National Cricket Academy and the Bangladesh A team followed. He did well in the West Indies for the A team and against other second-string sides but he faced a few dark months in 2012 when an umpire at the Shafi Darashah tournament in Bangalore reported him for a kink in his elbow while bowling the quicker delivery. He went through the usual checks before being given the green signal to play first-class cricket in the 2012-13 season, one which he started off with nine wickets. A seven-wicket haul in the second innings included a hattrick, and spectacularly, Sohag slammed a hundred in the same game, becoming only the thirteenth cricketer of all time to score a century and take a hattrick in a first-class match.

He was soon picked up for the Bangladesh team for the first Test against West Indies in November 2012. Having been called up to play against the West Indies in November 2012, he bowled the first ball of the first test in Mirpur. The ball was hit for six by Chris Gayle, the first time this had been achieved in the history of the game, although he finished the innings having bowled 47 overs with figures of three for 145.

In the first Test against New Zealand in October 2013, Gazi scored his maiden test century, remaining unbeaten on 101 as Bangladesh hit 501 in reply to New Zealand's 469. He followed this up with a hat-trick in New Zealand's innings, dismissing Corey Anderson, BJ Watling and Doug Bracewell in consecutive deliveries to become the first person in history to score a century and take a hat-trick in the same Test match. He became the second Bangladeshi to take a Test hat-trick after Alok Kapali.