Great for me to bat at the top of the order: Miraz
The bowling part of Mraz was always in the focus ever since his debut in 2016. But the batter Miraz has been stamping his authority in recent days and Sunday was just another exhibition of it.
Bangladesh have steamrolled Afghanistan on their World Cup opener at Dharamsala on Sunday. Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the player of the match, played a vital role with both bat and ball in the game. After picking up three wickets he came on to bat at number three and played a valuable 57-run innings to ensure the Tigers' comfortable victory over the Afghans.
The bowling part of Mraz was always in the focus ever since his debut in 2016. But the batter Miraz has been stamping his authority in recent days and Sunday was just another exhibition of it.
Miraz recently scored a hundred in the Asia Cup last month against the same opponent and it was being discussed whether he would be given another go in the World Cup opener as well. He has now scored 32, 112*, 0, 28, 57 respectively in his five innings at the top order.
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Miraz was promoted up the order ahead of Najmul Hossain Shanto when Bangladesh lost Tanzid Hasan Tamim early in the chase and showed a glimpse of confidence right from the word go.
He struck five boundaries in his innings and kept the scoreboard going, thus Bangladesh didn't feel any added pressure despite losing both openers early.
Miraz thanked the team management for believing in him.
"It's a great moment for me, I've done a lot of hard work in the past. Credit to the team management because they believed in me," he said after the match.
"I took it ball by ball and didn't look at the runs. Wicket was turning a bit, I just tried to play straight. I've always batted at no.8 so a great moment for me to bat at the top of the order. They tried me at the top of the order in the last few matches and it's a great moment for me," he added.
But it was Miraz's bowling beside the skipper Shakib Al Hasan which all but sealed the match for the Tigers.
"I was a bit cautious, the captain told me to bowl in the right areas. He told me to be consistent and to focus on my own performance so credit to the captain."
