Mehidy looks to strengthen his spot

Mehidy Hasan burst into the international arena in 2016, when he picked up 19 wickets in his debut Test series against England. He then went on to make his ODI debut in 2017 against Sri Lanka but wasn’t regular in the limited overs format. But since Bangladesh’s last tour of Windies, he has been a regular in the ODI eleven too. Everyone was left in awe when he came to open the batting with Liton Das in the Asia Cup final where they put up a 120 run stand. 

“Why am I playing ODIs now? Because I am giving away less runs”, he said. “I am playing regularly since the last Windies series. I was irregular in the ODI side before that. Everyone was saying, Miraz is just a test bowler. But I didn’t want to remain as just a test bowler. I thought of what I can do. I talked with Mashrafe bhai. He said, ‘As the nature of your bowling is, you’ll have to try to keep your basics right and give away as less runs as possible in ODIs. If you can do this, you’ll get a chance in the eleven.’ I have been playing regularly since the Windies tour by doing this”, he added. 

“My economy in ODIs is good. I’m currently emphasizing on that”, he specified. “If I try a lot of things and give too many runs, the captain or team will not keep me in the eleven. They want economic bowling from me. They don’t want three wickets for 70 runs from me. If I can play regularly like this, strengthen my place, when I’ll have a strong position in the team, I’ll try to improvise a lot of things. I’ll think of something new”, Mehidy explained. 

“I think, it’s still not the time for me to try something new. At first, let me strengthen my basics. When I’ll be satisfied with my basics, I’ll try something new”, he told the reporters. 

“Think of Ashwin. Once upon a time, he was also a traditional spinner. He added his carom ball or other skills only after he gained experience. Or Shakib bhai, they are so experienced that they can add anything new. I want to strengthen my basics first. Bowling in good areas, giving away less runs, taking wickets in times of need. When I’ll build these up and be able to do well, I’ll be able to improvise something new. If I try to improvise a lot of things now, I might lose my basics. And also the plan of the team might get ruined.” Mehidy concluded. 

Mehidy has been claimed as one the biggest prospects of Bangladesh cricket and is lauded as one for the future. Saying that, with his willingness to learn and ability to cope, he can live up to that expectation and be a real frontrunner for the Bangladesh team in the future.