Mehrab Hossain

Mehrab Hossain is Bangladesh's first centurion in one-day international cricket: he made 101 against Zimbabwe in a tri-nation tournament before the 1999 World Cup. Coincidentally his uncle, Azhar Hossain, had scored the first ODI half-century by a Bangladesh batsman nine years earlier.

But Mehrab never lived up to his reputation as a complete batsman who was adept off both back and front foot, and nimble against the spinners. He had two other ODI fifties and a gorgeous 42 against Australia in the 1999 World Cup, but barely made a mark in Test cricket. His only score of note in a nine-match Test career was 71 in Harare in 2001, a polished effort like many of his innings in first-class cricket.

Mehrab is also remembered as the man whose fierce pull shot struck a fatal blow to Raman Lamba's head in February 1998. The incident happened during a Abahani-Mohammedan encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium: Mehrab pulled a short one from Saifullah Gem right into the temple of Lamba, a Delhi batsman who was playing league cricket in Bangladesh. Lamba, who was fielding at short leg without a helmet, couldn't avoid the blow and succumbed to the injury. The ball struck Lamba and then ricocheted into wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud's hands, but the dismissal was the last thing in Mehrab's mind at that moment.

He played his last games for Bangladesh in early 2003 before being banned from domestic cricket for a year due to his failure to appear before a committee in connection to allegations from a corporate cricket team that he took money but signed for a rival company. Mehrab continued playing domestically till the 2008-09 season but made a surprise appearance in 2011-12 for Dhaka Metropolis in a couple of games.
Mohammad Isam