Ziaul Islam Masud was born in October 1952 in Pabna and passed away in July 2014 in Dhaka. Standing tall as a right-arm fast bowler, he earned a reputation during the late 1970s and early 1980s as the fastest bowler in Bangladesh. He also made history as the first international wicket-taker for Bangladesh.
During the 1979 ICC Trophy in England, Masud led the new ball attack for Bangladesh and claimed five wickets for 102 runs. His tournament highlight came against Fiji, where he took two wickets for seventeen runs by dismissing both openers. He also contributed with the bat in that tournament, scoring eleven against Fiji in a vital twenty-three-run last-wicket partnership with Dipu Chowdhury, and remaining unbeaten on fifteen against Denmark.
Beyond the ICC Trophy, Masud played against the touring MCC team in the 1978 to 1979 season and faced difficulties on slow turning pitches. He later played a crucial part in helping Bangladesh win the South Asian Cricket Championship title in Hong Kong in 1988. His final international match arrived in early 1983 against a touring West Bengal team led by Dilip Doshi.
At the domestic level, Masud played for Dhaka Wanderers Club, Azad Boys Club, and spent most of his domestic career with Mohammedan Sporting Club. He remained a prominent top-tier figure in the domestic league throughout the 1980s. Though primarily a bowler, he proved his all-round capability by scoring runs whenever he batted, which included an unbeaten century against Udity Club in 1979.