Mehidy Hasan Miraz wants seniors to step up in ODIs

Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Bangladesh’s newly appointed ODI skipper, said on Tuesday (July 1) that the middle-order needs to step up in the absence of seasoned duo of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah.

The three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, beginning at R Premadasa Stadium on July 2, mark the starting of a new era for the visitors as they will be playing their first 50-over series following the retirement of the experienced pair. Bangladesh’s middle-order has struggled for consistency and stability in recent times and the absence of Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah will surely further impact their chances. Besides, Bangladesh are facing more availability concerns with Rishad Hossain not training on match-eve due to a niggle while Taskin Ahmed hurt his thumb while catching session.

Mehidy insisted that he feels the senior cricketers in the current set-up should take up the responsibility rather than putting it on the shoulder of the juniors.

“Look, we haven’t played any ODIs after the Champions trophy. And Mushfiq and Mahmudullah bhai retired and they used to play in two very important positions. They were very important players in the side. The position they used to hold is very valuable. We will be trying to fill those places with experience players,” Mehidy said ahead of their opening game.

“As a captain, I can bat in one of those positions. Another place might go to Litton. You see, the game need to be constructed from those two positions and so rather than putting someone younger there, we as senior players should take that responsibility,” he said. “We are missing seniors. They played really well for the country. We really miss them. Sometimes that happens because you have retirements.”

Mehidy added that he feels there shouldn’t be any problem between him and Nazmul, who recently stepped down from Test leadership after his ODI captaincy was snatched away by the board, won’t have any problems between them as they know each other quite well.

“Look, there is a lot of talk about the captaincy. But for us, we are not discussing it. Our job is to support our team and perform. When Shanto was captain, I helped him a lot. Before that, those who were captain, we also tried to perform under them. Every team has a captain, but everyone has to perform. When everyone does well, then the country does well. And I don’t have anything inside me like that, and Shanto doesn’t think that way either. Because the team comes first, Bangladesh is first. That is the most important thing,” he said.

Mehidy added that every match is important for them as they are at risk of losing the chance of directly qualifying for the next World Cup after going down to No. 10 in the ICC rankings. The first eight teams in the table will earn direct qualification.

“Every match is important for World Cup direct qualification and we will target that,” said Mehidy. “Ranking is important but we cannot take pressure because of that. We need to start well. If we start well, then it should be easy. We have enough time to prepare ourselves. It’s a good opportunity to do well. We are looking forward to the World Cup. We will see how it goes.

“Maybe we are not playing good cricket at the moment. We didn’t play much ODI series last year, we played a lot of Test matches. If we play back-to-back ODI series, that will be good for us, which we have this year,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka said that they are expecting runs from the wicket as they prepare to take on Bangladesh.

“Generally, Premadasa is a spin-friendly track. But I am looking to play this game on a good track, not spin-friendly. I think it will be good for the batters. We can see tomorrow,” said Asalanka

The explosive batter added that they are well aware about the threat posed by Mustafizur Rahman and insisted they have their plans in place. “Mustafizur is a great bowler. He has proven that in the past. He has taken a lot of wickets for Bangladesh. I think we have a clear plan for him. We know that he can be dangerous,” he said.

Bangladesh will have to lift their game against Sri Lanka as they are beaming with confidence after back-to-back home series win against Australia and New Zealand.