Bangladesh-origin pacer Arafat Bhuiyan has signed a professional contract for England's county side Kent. The team announced the inclusion of this 26-year-old right-arm pacer on Wednesday (May 17). Arafat became the second cricketer of Bangladeshi origin after Essex's Robin Das who signs a professional contract with a team from the county.

Arafat is the second son of Alamgir Hossain Bhuiyan, a resident of Pachra village in the Chauddagram upazila of the Cumilla district in Bangladesh.

“I’m over the moon to have signed for Kent. It’s a dream come true to become a professional cricketer and I feel all my hard work has paid off. I’m grateful to Kent, especially Second XI Coach Mark Dekker, for the faith they have showed in me, and hope I can perform well if given the opportunity.

“I would also like to thank Dr Tom Brown from SACA for giving me the opportunity to train and for accommodating me during the Winter in Birmingham. I can’t speak highly enough about the amount of work he is putting into this programme,” Arafat said after signing for Kent.

Arafat took 17 wickets for Kent's second XI. He took 4 wickets for 81 runs in the Second XI Championship match last week. The pacer also played for Blackheath in the Kent Premier League alongside Kent's Second XI.

Prior to Kent, Arafat played for Surrey, Essex, and Derbyshire Second XIs in the last six years. In 2019, he also played for the MCC’s Young Cricketers side. The pacer also played for the South Asian Cricket Academy this year.

Arafat will be in the squad against Surrey in the County Championship first-class match starting on May 18 at The Oval. However, Kent's position in the points table in Division One of the Championship is not good at all. Sam Billings' team is at number 9 out of 10 teams with 39 points in 5 matches.

In the meanwhile, Robin Das, who earlier played for the county as a cricketer of Bangladeshi origin, later played as an English cricketer in the country's franchise league and also in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).