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Mehedi Hasan Miraz, the young Bangladeshi all rounder, is set to make his CPL debut this August. He will play for the Trinbago Knight Riders.
He has come in to the side as a replacement for the veteran Australian Brad Hogg, who declared himself unavailable.
Mehedi is likely to team up with the likes of Hashim Amla, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum and others.
Initially, the cricket board in Bangladesh has given permission for Mehedi to play till 15th August, but if the Aussie tour had been cancelled, he would have gotten the chance to play the whole of this year’s CPL.
For the young man from Khulna; this is another opportunity to further enhance his reputation as a bright young talent of world cricket.
Already over the last 18 months or so he has become a household name in Bangladesh. First In February 2016 during the 11th youth WC, he led the Bangladesh U-19 team to their best ever finish in the event.
A loss against the eventual champions Windies ended their title hopes, but they finished third with Mehedi becoming the player of the tournament. During the event he had an outstanding time with both bat and ball.
Promotion to the Test team was imminent, although his role in the national team is a bit different. In the U-19 level he was an all rounder, but the Bangladesh national team uses him basically as their front line off spin bowler, he comes down the order in the batting line up.
He impressed with the leathers in his Test debut at Chittagong. Against England, in October 2016, he took 6/80 and 1/58.
Even more impressive was his match winning efforts in his next match, at Dhaka. He took 6/82 and 6/77 as Bangladesh achieved a memorable Test victory. Mehedi was adjudged the Man of the match and the Man of the series; a big achievement for a 19-year-old.
So, 2016 was a memorable year for Mehedi – but we remained cautious about him; knowing our previous experience with Sohag Gazi.
(Photo by Martin Hunter/Getty Images)
Like Mehedi, Sohaz is a right arm off break bowler who can bat a bit. Once described as ‘a right handed Shakib’, he had a memorable first season in international cricket during 2012-13.
Yet, subsequent loss of form combined with accusations about his bowling action has meant that he has not only lost his place in the national team; he has actually become something of a forgotten man.
In 2017, Miraz has so far failed to match his last year’s efforts. After taking 19 wickets in his first two Tests, he has only added 16 more in his next five.
Still, 35 wickets from 7 tests is highly acceptable. His 3/90 against SL on the opening day of the Colombo (PSS) Test helped us in another famous victory in March this year.
Interestingly, while Mehedi has taken no time to establish himself in the test team; he remains a fringe player in the limited over version.
He has so far played just 6 ODIs and 1 T-20 match. Part of the reason is the arrival in the horizon of another very similar type of cricketer, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat.
Like Mehedi he is a capable lower order bat, and he bowls off break. Like Mehedi, he made his international debut in the 2016-17 season. But, his international career shows: 1 Test, 18 ODIs and 6 T20s. The general consensus here is that Mosaddek’s batting is more suitable to the limited-overs game, while Mehedi possesses greater guile as a Test match bowler.
Mehedi, however, is not happy to remain as a Test match specialist. He wants to develop himself as an all rounder suitable for all forms of the game.
Certainly, the CPL would provide him with a great opportunity to enhance his T20 game. Playing alongside some of the great names of the T20 game will give him the chance to enhance his skills and experience.
Also, the Bangladesh national team coach Chandika Hathrurusingha always insists that the wants the young Bangladeshi players like Mehedi to play in different tournaments of the world at every available opportunity.
While the domestic cricket in Bangladesh is quite competitive and organized, the Bangladesh coach feels it is important for the young tigers to gain valuable experience about foreign conditions and environments.
As the CPL starts, most cricket lovers of Bangladesh will follow the event with keen interest. Obviously, Shakib, playing for the Jamaica Tallawahs, will receive great attention, but for the future of Bangladesh cricket, the performance of Mehedi would be of greater significance.
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