Mehdi Hasan Miraj made his debut in the national team with the Test series against England in 2016. This all-rounder even became Man of the Series in that series. At that time, Miraj was playing in the national team as a bowler. But gradually proved himself as a batter. The latest example of which is in the Test series against Pakistan. Miraj gave a great all-round performance with bat and ball in the historic series win against Pakistan. His performance has made Bangladesh optimistic.
Shakib is at the end of his career. There is no previous edge in bat-ball. After that, this former number one all-rounder of Djerba was involved in various controversies including the murder case. At such a time, Mehdi Hasan Miraj is emerging as a new all-rounder in Bangladesh cricket. If you get a chance with the bat and the ball, you are giving the reward of trust. He is arguably the best all-rounder in the country in recent performances.
But Mirage dreams of becoming the world’s best all-rounder. He wants to work harder for that, wants to take more time. In Mirage’s words, ‘The team gets a lot of benefits if there are two all-rounders in the team. Batting is getting better. At first the team did not get so much batting, I played as a bowler. Nice to be able to contribute now. Of course you have to practice, you have to suffer. Not possible in 1-2 years. You have to play well for a long time. The way it is going, if I keep it for a long time, I will be able to become a (world’s best) all-rounder inshallah.’
Although he has the experience of batting in different positions according to the needs of the team, Mirage mostly bats in the lower order. However, he recently said in an interview that he wants promotion in the batting order. This time, Mirage explained that, ‘The team’s strength increases when the tail enders support the batters. Tail-enders in Pakistan have given a lot of support. I bat in the late order. That came from me. The innings played by Hasan Mahmood was very effective. Litton batted for two hours. 70 run partnership. These are very important for victory.’
Miraj also said why he wants to bat at the top instead of number eight, ‘Basically what you said is that you don’t want to be a batsman at number eight. Batting at number eight is a lot of pressure. Because you see in many situations of the team there… the team played very well, then I had to drop number eight. Again, when there are situations where all the batters fail, I have to bat under pressure. I said the thing in the hint that I don’t want to be the best player at number 8. Want to be the best player at the top, that’s how it really was.’
Shakib Al Hasan is in career twilight. Miraj feels his role will become more important after his departure, ‘Shakib bhai and I are both playing. Everyone has to retire sometime. Every team has replacements. Not everyone will play for the rest of their lives. When Shakib bhai is not there, maybe my role will become more important.’
(Dhaka Times/September 9/NBW)
Source: www.dhakatimes24.com
