The curious case of Anamul

From bursting onto the scene in 2012, to getting shunned from the team for three years and to now becoming an in-and-out figure in the past two years, Anamul Haque's journey in ODIs has been topsy-turvy to say the least.

The wicketkeeper-batter got an opportunity in the ODI series against New Zealand where he scored 43, two and 37 runs respectively in three matches.

In the first and third match, Anamul was able to provide a quick start opening the innings but his failure to kick on in the first game and finishing the job in the third one reinforced his reputation of being an unreliable batter who seems unsure of his role.

"I think his innings at times reflects insecurity. I think he doesn't feel assured as a cricketer and that hampers his game. He always thinks he needs to score big, otherwise he will lose his place from the team," prominent coach Nazmul Abedeen Fahim told The Daily Star.

The 31-year-old's career hit a block when he suffered a shoulder injury while fielding against Scotland in a group-stage match of the 2015 ICC World Cup, which ruled him out for a few months.

After that, Anamul got slowly reduced to an afterthought, as the selectors seemingly lost faith in him and mainly considered him as a back-up option.

There was also a lack of clarity from the selectors.

Anamul made his return to the ODI side after almost three years after scoring heavily in the domestic four-day competition. Unsurprisingly, he failed to make his comeback count.

This lack of foresight was once again evident when Anamul got roped in the Test squad for last year's West Indies tour after he scored 1,138 runs in the Dhaka Premier League, breaking the world record for scoring the most number of runs in a 50-over competition.

This time too, Anamul failed to score big and was not picked in the white-ball matches in the tour.

Fahim believes to get the best out of Anamul, the think tank needs to back him

"I think it's important for the selectors, coach and the player to work together and assure the player and at times when needed back that player."