ZCZC
BSP-14
CRICKET-MIRAZ-SUCCESS
Work on little things gives Mehidy big success
DHAKA, May 26, 2021 (BSS) – Bangladesh offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz attributed his success down to work on little things which gave him the success in big time.
Mehidy today climbed to No.2 bowler in the ICC ODI bowlers’ rankings and became only third Bangladesh bowler to be among top two after Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak.
Shakib Al Hasan became No. 1 bowler in 2009 while Razzak rose to No.2 in 2010.
With just 12 rating points adrift of top bowler New Zealand’s Trent Boult, who has 737 rating points currently, Mehidy has the chance to leapfrog him if he does extremely well in the third ODI against Sri Lanka on Friday.
Mehidy had already bagged seven wickets in first two matches and given the form and condition of the wicket, he is highly likely to emulate Shakib’s achievement.
The young offspinner said it is a dream, which only came true after working on little things in priority basis.
“I am very happy to be number two in the rankings. I never thought I would be number two in the ODI cricket rankings. I feel very good,” Mehidy said here today.
“I just worked on little things without thinking too much. What I thought is how I can improve my game and how I can contribute to the team. The senior players and coaches helped me a lot.”
Mehidy rose to the fame just in his debut Test series against England in 2016, taking 19 wickets in two matches, which was a record itself. He was then considered as Test bowler only but he honed his skill for limited over cricket and thrived here excellently.
“When I started playing Tests, I was a Test bowler. But one thing that always pushed me was that I would not just play Tests, I would play all formats and play successfully. When I started ODI cricket, I was thinking, how can I contribute to the team and perform on my own. I understood that if I want to play ODI cricket, I have to keep my economy rate right. Because if I keep the economy right then I will be more likely to get wickets and give the side an expected breakthrough,” he added.
Mehidy thinks the performance in 2019 World Cup shaped his ODI career and eventually made him the top two bowler of the world.
“At first I didn’t get much opportunity in ODIs. I have been playing ODI cricket consistently since 2018, starting from West Indies tour. I think batsmen in ODI cricket are in a hurry for runs. So, I decided to keep the thing simple,” he said.
“And later the 2019 World which is a big event, boosted my confidence. You know there are a lot of world class players out there. And of course there’s no spin track in England. Because there are many good wickets in the World Cup, I set myself up mentally. I had a plan if I don’t get a wicket, I won’t allow the batsmen to hit me and dominate me. That worked well for me. In the firstmatch against South Africa, I got two wickets and the confidence enhanced to do well in the mega event. I understood small things often make difference.”
Mehidy said he got support from all players, support staff in the team, which helped him to thrive in this format of cricket.
“Everyone is very supportive, all the teammates have congratulated me on my success. I am fortunate to have the support of all. There was bad times but they stood by me,” he said.
BSS/SMP/RY/20:38 hrs