Sports Desk:

Bangladesh’s latest pace sensation Nahid Rana said that although he admires all the pacers of the national team, he emulates none and wants to remain as himself in international cricket.

“I don’t want to be like anyone else. I’m Nahid Rana, I want to stay as Nahid Rana from Bangladesh,” Rana said in a video posted on social media by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Thusday.

“Honestly speaking, I don’t really follow anyone. I like all the pacers in the Bangladesh team, because I have grown up watching them play on TV,” he added.

Rana made heads turn everywhere with his raw pace in the recently-concluded Test series against Pakistan, which Bangladesh won 2-0.

The 21-year-old was the quickest bowler in display from both sides and after hitting the speed of 149.9 kmph twice in the series, he finally broke the 150 kmph barrier in the second Test, clocking 152 kmph.

Rana, however, claimed that he was not striving to bowl that fast, saying, “I never felt as if I had to bowl at 152 kmph or quicker than that. The only thing on my mind was that I had to bowl according to the team’s plans.”

“You can’t calculatingly conjure up something like pace, it depends on the rhythm. It just happens.”

Rana and other Bangladesh players are now training in Mirpur for their forthcoming two-Test and three-T20 tour of India, starting on September 19 with the first Test.