Having done it twice in Rawalpindi, he stepped up once again in Dhaka, this time in Jaker Ali’s company
Mohammad Isam23-Oct-2024Mehidy Hasan Miraz projects an air of confidence, perhaps even bravado, when he walks to the crease. He thrusts his chest out, and his eyes in his stance are wide.Early in his innings, though, the viewer doesn’t always share that confidence. He plays the odd airy drive, followed by one or two shadow-leaves. Then he’ll leave the ball a few times, before edging one through the slips or driving uppishly past point. When his team is tottering at 26 for 6 or 112 for 6, your nerves are in shreds.Once you start to get used to Mehidy’s batting – scratchy at the start before rapidly gaining in solidity – you understand the confidence he projects. His footwork and strokeplay become assured. An air of calm descends, much needed in a Bangladesh batting line-up that keeps collapsing.Related
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Mehidy is batting on 87 after the third day of the first Test against South Africa, his highest score in 2024. It’s his fourth fifty this year, all made from Nos. 8 or 7. He is Bangladesh’s highest run-scorer in 2024, having overtaken Mominul Haque to that position, and now averages above 50 this year.Time after time, Mehidy has walked into difficult situations and built big stands. In Dhaka, he came in at 106 for 5 in the third innings, which quickly became 112 for 6. From there, he proceeded to add 138 for the seventh wicket with Jaker Ali. When Litton Das was sixth out on the third morning, caught behind off Keshav Maharaj, Bangladesh had no hope. They were 90 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, and that was a good measure of the distance between the two sides over the first two days and a bit at the Shere Bangla National Stadium.When Jaker joined Mehidy, nobody really expected a repeat of Rawalpindi. On that historic Pakistan tour, Mehidy had featured in two landmark seventh-wicket stands – with Mushfiqur Rahim and then Litton – to turn the fate of successive Tests. The partnership with Litton came in a particularly precarious situation, with Bangladesh 26 for 6.This situation wasn’t dissimilar. Bangladesh were fortunate that they had Jaker, a debutant but a specialist batter, joining Mehidy at the crease. The seventh-wicket pair didn’t look scratchy for long, and quickly understood the pace of the wicket. Jaker later said that they knew they didn’t have to do too much but just stick around and get settled at the crease.”It was a crucial moment in the morning, we had lost three quick wickets,” Jaker told the host broadcaster . “We planned to bat normally. We didn’t want to think about what had just happened. We just tried to stick to our process. We didn’t want to rush. Our plan was simple. I am a specialist batter but I am batting down the order. He believed in me.”Jaker comes with a strong reputation as a middle-order batter in domestic cricket but was under pressure after a rash dismissal in the first innings. It had played on his mind, which Mushfiqur had picked up in the team hotel on the second evening. Mushfiqur reassured Jaker, and Jaker reminded himself of the senior pro’s words when he batted in the second innings. He made 58 off 111 balls, hitting seven fours.Jaker Ali scored a half-century on Test debut•AFP/Getty Images”[Getting the fifty] was a special moment, especially this being my first Test,” Jaker said. “Mushfiq actually calmed me down last night. He said don’t worry about the runs. I made only two in the first innings, so he said that I should enjoy my Test debut. He kept saying that I should bat in my own process. If I get out in my own process, it will be okay. This was my plan. I wanted to stick to my plan, and if I get out, I will be okay.”Mehidy had told Jaker one other thing.”He just told me we are going to have a big partnership,” Jaker said. “‘You just stay focused. Bat normally.’ I think we were mentally ready, and then we enjoyed the pressure moment.”That wasn’t arrogance from Mehidy, but just the confidence of a man who has seen this situation play out before. Mehidy is aware of the fragility of this Bangladesh top six, and knows how important he is with the bat.Mehidy is reaping the rewards of a long training period in May and June, when he wasn’t involved in Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup campaign or its build-up. He also got a chance to have an off-season in July and August, before the tour of Pakistan. He didn’t score too many runs in the two Tests in India, but he remains in form, as Dhaka has shown.It’s a blessing for a Bangladesh side that has struggled for top-order contributions. There have been no century partnerships for the first two wickets this year, and only two half-century stands. There have been three century stands for the seventh wicket, meanwhile, and Mehidy has featured in all three.Thanks to the latest of them, Bangladesh find themselves leading by 81 at the end of day three in Dhaka, with Mehidy still at the crease. There’s some rain forecast, but if he can coax the last three wickets to extend that lead to at least 150, Bangladesh can start hoping again. It is a bit of a stretch, but if anyone in this line-up can pull off such a feat, it’s most likely going to be Mehidy.