Miraz starting to fulfill early promise of being Bangladesh's next big all-rounder

Shakib Al Hasan had recently said in an interview before the World Cup, that he wanted to "smile", and captaincy wouldn't allow him to do that.

At the post-match presentation ceremony, the Bangladesh captain was asked by host Simon Doull if he was smiling.

"Yes, I'm smiling," was his reply as his team had comfortably defeated Afghanistan by six wickets in their first ICC World Cup 2023 match at Dharamshala on Saturday. 

One of the key reasons for that would be the batting, and bowling of Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Hailed as the next Shakib during his time in the U-19 ranks where Miraz was captain, he initially burst onto the scene as an off-spinner in 2016 against England in the Test series and finished as the player of the series there. 

He became the fifth youngest player to take 10 wickets in a Test match at 19 years and three days old as Bangladesh scripted a memorable Test win against England at Mirpur and drew the series 1-1.

But things became difficult for him soon as the realities of international cricket hit, as has been the case with a myriad of Bangladeshi cricketers who make the jump from the U-19 setup. 

Not only were fans questioning why he was batting so low down the order, but his bowling away from home looked ineffective, especially in a tough series against South Africa, where, in one of the matches he conceded 246 runs - the 6th most runs conceded in an innings in Test history.

Over the years though, he's developed his game on all fronts, and unlike many cricketers around him, didn't let the fame or hype get to his head.

His white-ball bowling home and away got better and so too did his batting.

Perhaps the series that really lit things up for Miraz was the ODI series against India, where he played two match-winning knocks with the bat and helped Bangladesh defeat the visitors 2-1.

Last year was his best one with the bat as he scored 330 runs in 10 innings with an average of 66.

The 25-year-old's averages per year from his ODI debut in 2017 were not higher than 21.5 so that tells us just how much he got better in white ball cricket.

After the match, Miraz, who was adjudged as the player-of-the-match for the Tigers for his fifty and taking three wickets for just 25 runs credited his captain and the team management for bringing him up the order. 

"It's a great moment for me. I did a lot of hard work in the past. The team management deserves credit. I was a little bit cautious in my mind early on while bowling but the captain told me to bowl at the right areas and told me to be consistent and that gave me confidence so credit goes to the captain," Miraz said in the post-match presentation.  

He detailed on his innings of 57 off 73 balls: "I go for ball by ball and how to get better on this surface. The wicket was turning a little bit but I tried to stay (on the crease). I always play at number 8 so it was a great opportunity to bat in the top order. I always have the hunger so definitely it's a great moment for me to perform."

Miraz was among the most impressive batters for Bangladesh in the two warm-up matches as well, where he batted up the order, and he continued his good form here.

One feels, that for Bangladesh to have a good World Cup, Miraz will be key, and perhaps, the calls of him filling Shakib's boots can start once again.