When runs don’t bring rewards

Considering how events have unfolded for Tawhid Hridoy in recent times, the right-handed batter may well be wondering what he is doing wrong.

A closer look at the scorecards, match situations, and overall context suggests that the 25-year-old is probably not doing anything drastically amiss. Yet, he continues to find himself on the wrong side of the results.

Hridoy was the only Bangladesh middle-order batter who began the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) with some semblance of form, having scored 493 runs in 22 international innings in 2025, albeit at a modest strike rate of 116.54. However, he has since blown hot and cold in the tournament -- and even when he has found his touch, the outcomes have stubbornly gone against him.

The latest example came yesterday in Sylhet, when his unbeaten 97 off 56 balls, after being promoted to open by Rangpur Riders, still proved insufficient as Rajshahi Warriors chased down a target of 179 with five balls and seven wickets to spare.

Hridoy was involved in a blistering 105-run fourth-wicket partnership with Khushdil Shah off just 51 balls, rescuing Rangpur from a precarious 72 for three in the 12th over. Opening for the first time for his franchise, he raced to 36 from his first 20 balls, endured a sluggish middle phase -- including a phase of no boundaries in 35 deliveries by Rangpur -- before finishing strongly with 54 off his final 23 deliveries. Left stranded three runs short of what would have been his second T20 ton, Hridoy could at least take solace in having lifted his side to a competitive total.

Ultimately, though, his effort was undone by half-centuries from Rajshahi’s Muhammad Waseem and Najmul Hossain Shanto.

It was not the first time that Hridoy found himself on the losing side despite being the standout performer. In seven BPL innings this season, he has been dismissed for single digits three times, made 29 and 17 in two others, and on the only previous occasion he crossed fifty -- a 39-ball 53 -- Rangpur still lost, that time in a Super Over against Rajshahi.

The pattern extends to the international arena as well. In the first T20I against Ireland last November, Hridoy struck a career-best 83 not out from 50 balls, but Bangladesh were already reeling at 18 for four while chasing 182, and his innings merely reduced the margin of defeat.

For Hridoy, the runs continue to bring personal relief. For his teams, however, they have yet to deliver the one thing he craves most -- victory.