Nahid Rana — the quickest bowler Bangladesh has ever produced

Six foot five, and quicker than anyone in the draft

Nahid Rana was born in Chapai Nawabganj, Bangladesh, on 2 October 2002. He is six foot five, bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast, and Paktia took him in the Diamond round at the Dubai draft on 3 November 2026 for $65,000.

He plays under captain Rahmanullah Gurbaz, with Azhar Mahmood as head coach and Waqar Younis as mentor. In a squad built around two wrist-spinners, Rana is the pace at the other end — the bowler Gurbaz turns to with the new ball, and the one who can hurry a top order before the spinners even start.

He did not play in the first APL season in 2018. He was sixteen when that tournament was played in Sharjah, and he had not yet bowled with a hard ball — he was still a tennis-ball cricketer in Chapai Nawabganj, and he first bowled with a hard ball in 2020. The 2026-27 season is his APL debut, eight years after the league began.

152 kph, and a series win in Pakistan

Rana’s breakthrough came in the second Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in September 2024. He took 4 for 44 in Pakistan’s second innings, hurrying Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel with his pace, and one delivery was clocked at 152.0 kph — the fastest ever by a Bangladeshi in international cricket. Bangladesh won the Test and sealed a historic 2–0 series win, and Rana took six wickets in the two matches.

Three months later, at Sabina Park in December 2024, he took his maiden Test five-wicket haul: 5 for 61 in 18 overs as West Indies were bowled out for 146, with four wickets on the third morning and three deliveries over 150 kph in a single over. Bangladesh won by 101 runs, their first Test win in the West Indies since 2009. He finished 2024 ranked second in the world for average pace in Test cricket, behind only Mark Wood.

His white-ball record is just as sharp. His 6 for 21 is the best ODI figures by a Bangladeshi, and in May 2026 he became a PSL champion. He has 38 Test wickets in twelve matches, and he arrives in the UAE as the quickest bowler in the draft.

No APL numbers yet — a debut eight years on

Rana has no APL figures yet. He did not play in 2018, and the 2026-27 season has not started, so his numbers will be filled in once the matches are played.

2026-27 figures will be added here once the matches are played.

Pace up front, and a different question

Paktia’s attack is built on spin, and that is exactly why Rana matters. A side that has to face Hasaranga and Noor Ahmad in the middle overs first has to survive the new ball, and Rana’s pace at the top of the innings is the part of the plan that makes the rest of it work.

He is also the bowler for the flat days. When UAE pitches offer nothing to the spinners, a bowler who can touch 150 kph and hit the deck hard is the one who can still take a wicket. Paktia did not buy him to be economical — they bought him to be quick, and to make batters hurry.

A new club, a blank record

Five teams chase four playoff places in APL 2026-27, so one side goes home after the league stage. Each team plays eight league matches — each opponent twice — and a win is worth two points. The table is empty because the season has not started: every team begins on zero points, and the first update comes after Match 1 on 27 December 2026, when the first ball is bowled at 5:30 PM Afghanistan time (5:00 PM Dubai time) in the UAE. The final is on Wednesday 20 January 2027.

Paktia are a new club for 2026-27, not a continuation of the 2018 Paktia Panthers, so Rana has no old APL record to defend. His job is simpler and harder than that: lead a new side’s pace attack in a league where the batters have seen his pace on television but never faced it in this competition. The Afghanistan Premier League 2026 season starts on 27 December 2026.