Bangladesh fast bowler Hasan Mahmud is set to link up with Kent County Cricket Club for the current season, with club officials confirming the move on Tuesday. Hasan\u2019s representative, Ihsaan Syed-Hussain, said the right-arm pacer is expected to be available for Kent\u2019s County Championship encounter against Lancashire on June 12.<\/p>\n
Hasan previously played county cricket for Worcestershire and Surrey as part of his stint as a Bangladesh all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan. Hasan, however, is the player in focus here\u2014he had a tennis elbow injury during the Bangladesh Premier League, which kept him out of Bangladesh\u2019s home series against Pakistan. After that setback, he travelled to England and trained with Kent under the supervision of head coach Adam Hollioake.<\/p>\n
Ihsaan, a Bangladeshi-born British citizen who grew up in England, described how he played a central role in getting the deal across the line between Hasan and Kent. He said the original target was to have Hasan ready for the June 12 clash against Lancashire, with the plan dependent on visa arrangements.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intention is that he\u2019s available for the June 12 match against Lancashire, which is Kent\u2019s opening game versus Lancashire. That\u2019s the goal they\u2019re working toward. We\u2019re optimistic that the visa will be sorted in time. If it doesn\u2019t happen, then he would have to make his debut in the next fixture on June 18 against Middlesex. But the official plan is June 12,\u201d Ihsaan said.<\/p>\n
He added that the move was not a last-minute development, explaining that preparations had been underway for a while. Ihsaan said he began pushing the idea after Hasan delivered a five-wicket haul against India, and that his personal connections with Kent\u2019s management and captain helped build momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be clear, this wasn\u2019t a sudden agreement. I started laying the groundwork from the moment Hasan took that five-for against India. From then onwards, because I have a strong relationship with Kent County Cricket Club\u2019s leadership and I know their captain well, I approached them. I told the captain, \u2018There\u2019s a guy named Hasan Mahmud playing for Bangladesh. He\u2019s performing really well, and if he gets into county cricket, he\u2019ll absolutely trouble and dismantle teams.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ihsaan said Kent began monitoring Hasan and showed interest during the 2025 season. However, he noted that Hasan\u2019s international schedule\u2014series commitments against Sri Lanka and Ireland\u2014made it difficult to secure him at that stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey began tracking him from there. They were actually quite interested in him last year during the 2025 season. But at that time Hasan had international duties with series versus Sri Lanka and Ireland, so his availability was the sticking point and they couldn\u2019t bring him in. Still, we kept a close connection with Kent and made sure the club knew the interest was mutual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Ihsaan, the interest reignited at the start of this season, with Kent\u2019s head coach and management reiterating their desire to sign Hasan. He pointed to two key challenges that had to be managed: Hasan\u2019s precise window of availability and the fact that Kent already had their overseas slots filled at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start of this season, they showed strong interest again. Verbally, the head coach and the management told us, \u2018We really want him this year.\u2019 Everyone was keen\u2014including the captain. But we had to handle two main hurdles. The first was identifying his exact availability window. As we know with Bangladesh cricket, schedules can change right at the last moment. It\u2019s not like some countries where the calendar is fixed a year ahead. The second issue was that Kent had already filled their overseas places,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ihsaan said the situation shifted after Hasan suffered a tennis elbow injury and came to England for rehabilitation. During that period, he reopened the conversation with Kent, noting that while there was a verbal understanding earlier, an official contract had not been signed yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen everything changed. Hasan unfortunately got a tennis elbow injury and came to England for rehab. During that time, I contacted Kent again. Before that, they had agreed verbally to take him, but there was no official contract signed. When Hasan arrived in the UK, I told Kent, \u2018Hasan is here recovering. He has to complete some bowling workloads as part of his rehab plan. Can he come and bowl at your facilities?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ihsaan said Kent responded immediately and offered access to their setup, allowing Hasan to work on his rehabilitation. He clarified that this was not being treated as a formal audition, but Kent\u2019s staff still got the chance to assess Hasan directly while he bowled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey responded straight away: \u2018Yes, of course. We want to sign him anyway, so we\u2019re more than happy for him to use our facilities and practice here.\u2019 That\u2019s why Hasan was bowling there. It wasn\u2019t an official trial; it was simply part of his injury rehab. But while he was bowling, the management got to see him face-to-face. And at the same time, an overseas slot at Kent opened up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ihsaan said he was not sure which exact overseas player had created the vacancy, explaining that Kent had three or four overseas cricketers rotating, including players from South Africa. Still, he said one slot became available, prompting Kent to move quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure exactly which player it was, because they had a few overseas players on rotation, including guys from South Africa. But one slot did open. Once it did, Kent came to us and said, \u2018Listen, we might be able to make this work now. What does his exact availability look like?\u2019 We checked the calendar and realised there was an ideal window. He could play two matches in June, then return in September for four games,\u201d Ihsaan said.<\/p>\n
He added that Kent agreed immediately once the schedule fit, and that the contract has now been formally signed, with only the visa process remaining before Hasan travels. Once the paperwork is finalised, Hasan will fly in, play the June fixtures, and complete his county commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cKent agreed instantly because everything aligned perfectly. Now the contract is officially signed, everything is finalised, and we\u2019re only waiting on the visa. Once it arrives, he will fly over, play the June games, and complete his contract,\u201d Ihsaan said.<\/p>\n
Ihsaan also outlined Hasan\u2019s wider itinerary. Along with county cricket in June, Hasan has secured a Lanka Premier League (LPL) deal and is expected to follow that with additional international and franchise commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, he also secured a Lanka Premier League deal. So his schedule is: play for Kent in June, then if he\u2019s selected, play the bilateral series against Zimbabwe, head to Sri Lanka for the LPL, and then go into the series against Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said Hasan will travel to Australia for the Test series and, in September, return to England to complete the remaining County Championship games. Ihsaan noted that Hasan will miss the county matches in August, but Kent is comfortable with that decision because the club had known about the Australia assignment from the outset.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will travel to Australia for the Test series, and then in September he\u2019ll fly back to England to play the remaining county matches for Kent. The only county fixtures he\u2019ll miss are the ones in August, but Kent is fine with it because they knew about the Australia series from the start. They told us, \u2018If he has to represent Bangladesh in Australia, no problem. He can play there and then come back to finish the season with us,\u2019\u201d Ihsaan added.<\/p>\n
Finally, Ihsaan summed up the background to the agreement, saying it had been building behind the scenes long before it appeared to happen quickly from the outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the full story behind the deal. It\u2019s been in the works in the background for a very long time, even if it might look like it happened overnight from the outside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) officials said they would be happy to see Hasan feature in county cricket, as long as it does not interfere with national responsibilities. Shahriar Nafees, the BCB\u2019s in-charge of cricket operations, said the board is open to players pursuing county stints provided it doesn\u2019t impact their international commitments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are open for him, and for that matter any cricketer, if that is not having an impact on his national commitment,\u201d Nafees told Cricbuzz when asked about Hasan\u2019s no-objection certificate for Kent.<\/p>\n
Hasan has also received another boost ahead of the season after being chosen by Colombo Kaps for the upcoming Lanka Premier League. The fast bowler has played 13 Tests and taken 36 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls and one four-wicket haul. He has also produced strong white-ball numbers, claiming 33 wickets in 26 One-Day Internationals and 28 wickets in 26 T20 Internationals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh fast bowler Hasan Mahmud is set to link up with Kent County Cricket Club for the current season, with club officials confirming the move…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Hasan Mahmud Joins Kent for IPL-Style Clash vs Lancashire","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud confirms his Kent move, aiming to be available for the June 12 County Championship clash vs Lancashire.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n