The rise, fall, and rise of Mehidy Hasan Miraz
Miraz has gone from being a star debutant to another disappointing youngster who showed a lot of promise to a guy who’s now an important player in the team.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz may not be the most glamorous name in Bangladesh cricket, but he has certainly been one of the most talked-about ones over the past day.
The reason obviously being Miraz's rise to the number two position of the ICC ODI bowler's rankings.
But if we look closer, we will see that this is a player that came in with a lot of hype.
Miraz was hailed as the Shakib Al Hasan of the Under-19 team.
He was one of the main batters and bowlers in the team that reached the semi-finals in that World Cup in 2016.
From there, Miraz's debut back in 2016 was even more glorious as he was the man of the series against England in the Test series where Bangladesh drew the series 1-1 and won their first-ever Test against England.
But he struggled to replicate the promise he had shown with the bat at age-level cricket to international cricket.
Not only that, but a year later he would have to tour South Africa with Shakib Al Hasan taking a leave from Test cricket, and that was a rude awakening for him.
In conditions that favoured fast bowling, Miraz was like a duck out of water.
His spin simply wasn't cutting it and his efforts were not enough to do any damage to the South African batting.
Whereas Miraz took 19 wickets in just two Test in 2016 at an average of 15.63, that average inflated to 54.08 in 2017 as he managed 24 wickets in eight Tests.
Things got better for him in 2018 where he took 41 wickets at an average of 22.12 but those came in home conditions mostly.
2019 once again saw Miraz struggle with the ball in Tests as he played against India in India and New Zealand in New Zealand.
Against those stiffer oppositions away from home, his numbers once again disappointed as he managed just six wickets at an average of 79.83.
While 2021 has seen Miraz not do that well with the ball in Tests (he has taken 14 wickets at 43.28), his batting has started to show signs of improvement.
He scored his maiden Test century against West Indies earlier this year and so far scored 256 runs from four Tests at an average of 36.57.
What has been notable has been his batting against pace bowling, which has gotten better than before.
The batting is still very much a work in progress and not better than what his batting position at number seven or eight suggests, but the signs are there that better days are yet to come.
Now let's come to the ODI's where Miraz has been making progress silently, but surely.
Much like his Test bowling, he had a poor 2017 and 2019 against stiffer opposition away from home, but better numbers in 2018.
He averaged 41.66 in 2017 and 56.53 in 2019 but that improved to 29.72 in 2018.
If we break his ODI bowling down, it's clear that he's excellent at home but not so good away from it.
In ODIs at home, he has taken 28 wickets at an average of 17.03 and an economy of 3.78.
But away from home, he has taken 15 wickets at an average of 50.20 and an economy of 5.04.
So what propelled him to number two in the ODI bowlers' rankings?
He has taken 14 wickets in just eight matches at an average of 14.28 and an excellent economy of just 3.14.
"Thanks to the Almighty, I'm very happy to be number two in the world. I never thought I would be the number two ranked ODI bowler in the world so this feels good," a surprised Miraz told the media after the news of his ranking broke.
In many ways, it is surprising that Miraz is so high up, even though he's not been the bowling spearhead of the team.
The 23-year-old has a chance to even be the number one ranked bowler in ODI cricket if he can have another good match in the third and final ODI.
At a time when Bangladesh cricket is desperately seeking their newer players to step up and do a job for the team, Miraz is starting to flourish and deliver on the promise he showed at age-level cricket.
He may not be the main bowler of the team, even if he reaches the number one ranking, but he is certainly making himself one of the most indispensable young players in the team and one that can take Bangladesh to a brighter future.
We have not seen the best, of Miraz, not even close, but the ranking may give him the self-belief and confidence that he can be one of the most important players for Bangladesh cricket for years to come.