Bangladeshi Cricket
Najmul Hossain Shanto: A Rising Star in Bangladeshi Cricket
Najmul Hossain Shanto’s impressive performance in the ODI format has further pushed his rise in the past month. The 24-year-old cricketer continued his excellent form, particularly against Ireland, which led to his nomination for the ICC’s Player of the Month for May. Scoring a century in the recent Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Test match 2023, Shanto continued his superb performance.
Though the player experienced some difficult times in his cricket career, recently he has become a consistent batter for the Bangladesh squad and helped the Tigers clinch win in several matches. Shanto acquired the Man of the Match award in the 2023 BAN vs AFG Test match.
Career Highlights of Najmul Hossain Shanto
Najmul Hossain Shanto has been playing tests since 2017, and so far, he has played 23 Test matches. In these 23 matches, he scored 1283 runs, with 163 being his highest score. With 4 centuries and 7 fifties, Shanto has been very consistent in recent test matches. Shanto’s best performance came against Sri Lanka in 2021. He did exceptionally well and scored 163 runs in just one inning, which is his best performance in test matches up to now.
Read more: Key Performers in BAN vs AFG Test 2023
Table: Najmul Hossain Shanto’s career as of June 20, 2023.
Format
Match
Total Runs
Highest Score
Average
100s
50s
Test
23
1283
163
29.83
4
3
ODI
24
615
117
26.73
1
3
T20I
23
548
71
28.84
0
3
Source: ESPN
In addition to Test, recently Shanto has displayed an impressive performance in One Day Internationals (ODIs) too. Overall, in 24 matches, he has accumulated a total score of 615 runs, with a highest score of 117. His average stands at 26.73 with one century and three fifties, reflecting his consistent contributions to the team's batting line-up.
Najmul Hossain Shanto has been performing really well in the T20 International format. He has played 23 matches and scored 548 runs in total. His highest score in a single match is 71 runs against Zimbabwe, which is quite impressive. On average, he scores around 28.84 runs per match. Although he hasn't scored a century yet in this format, he has hit three half-centuries. This means he has played some really good innings and contributed a lot to his team's success.
Although Shanto started international cricket career in 2017, he became a regular member of Bangladesh cricket team in 2021. So, in just two years Shanto demonstrated his skills. With his tremendous performance he also proved that he has enough potential.
Read more: BCB Announces T20I Squad for Afghanistan Series
Shanto’s Most Recent Performance in BAN vs AFG Test 2023
Shanto played a fantastic cricket match for the Bangladesh team. He scored a century in both innings of the match. In the first innings, he made 146 runs, and in the second innings, he scored 124 runs. His brilliant performance practically ensured Bangladesh’s victory. Shanto became the second Bangladeshi player, after Mominul Haque, to score a century in both innings of a Test match.
Table: Shanto's score card in BAN vs AFG Test 2023
Innings
Runs
4s
6s
Strike Rate
1st
146
23
2
83.42
3rd
124
15
0
82.11
Read more: Pakistan fast bowler Afridi set to return to test cricket
1 year ago
Career, Performance of Miraz: An Emerging Star of Bangladeshi Cricket
When Miraz does something wonderful, the word ‘Miracle’ comes into the newspaper heading. Maybe because it matches the name. As the name is Mehidy Hasan Miraz, ‘Miraz Miracle’ means that this cricketer of the Bangladesh team has done something surprising with the ball or the bat. But whether the word ‘miracle’ is used or not, in 2022, the ‘wonder boy’ Miraz is giving birth to one wonder after another. The latest of which was seen yesterday (December 07, 2022) in the second ODI against India in Mirpur. Who is Mehidy Hasan Miraz? Let’s get to know his life and career.
Early Life and Education
Miraz was born on October 25, 1997, in Barisal. Although Miraz was born in Barisal, he grew up in Khulna with his family. He has four members in his family: father, mother, and younger sister. Father Md Jalal Hossain was an autorickshaw driver. Miraz’s father moved to Kashipur in Khulna in search of work. And Miraz started his schooling at Kahsipur school. In that school, Miraz ran around with the ball with his friends, and cricket seemed to be more addictive than reading.
Miraz has grown up under financial stress. He has been interested in playing cricket since childhood. However, he played cricket secretly as he did not get any support from his family. Miraz even had to be beaten by his father for playing cricket. But still, wonder boy had the determination to play cricket, and his mother supported him during that time.
Read More: More confident as a batter now, says Mehidy after heroics against India
Mehdi Hasan Miraz has progressed so far with the help of Md Al Mahmud, the coach of Kashipur Cricket Academy in Khulna. Miraz started his cricket schooling under him. According to Mahmud, he has been watching Miraz since the age of eight, and from that age, the boy had a keen interest in playing cricket.
But Miraz was not in a position to play cricket at the academy as he did n't have financial support at that age. However, with the help of neighbor Russell Hossain, coach Al Mahmud started teaching wonder boy. Although Miraz’s economic condition was not good, seeing his strong will and brave mentality, Al Mahmud started training him. Now everyone knows Miraz!
Like cricket, Miraz is also committed to his personal life. He married his long-time fiancée Rabeya Akhter Priti in 2019.
Read More: Mehidy Miraz achieves 2 milestones with blazing century against India
Early Career
Mehdi Hasan Miraz got a chance in the under-14 team in the age-based selection from that academy. Miraz won Tk 25,000 as the best player in the U-14 tournament, and after that, his father did not stop him from playing. After the U-14 tournament, Miraz was also called up for the U-15 tournament. Then slowly, he started proving his worth. He got a chance to lead the team by getting a place in the under-19 team.
And many people started to know the name Mehdi Hasan Miraz from the Under-19 World Cup tournament. After that, he got a place on the national team with his performance.
Professional Cricket Career
Mehidy Hasan Miraz came to the limelight after the end of Bangladesh’s Test series against England in 2016. He was only 19 years old, but at that age, he took 19 wickets in the debut series for the national team in two Tests. He took 7 wickets in his test career at Chittagong, including six wickets in the first innings. And then Miraz took 12 wickets in the second Test in Mirpur.
Read More: Bangladesh escape Rohit scare to seal ODI series win against India
After his astonishing performance, Mehdi Hasan was described as a new star in the national cricket team of Bangladesh, but the world has already seen his all-rounder achievement in cricket in the Under 19 World Cup. He led the Bangladesh team in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup and won the man of the match award in that tournament.
It was just the beginning. In the last six years, Miraz has helped Bangladesh to win several matches. And one of the best performances came in the Bangladesh vs India ODI series in 2022.
Miraz's Most Memorable Performances in Cricket
2022 has been a great year for Miraz. He contributed to Bangladesh’s incredible win over New Zealand in a test last January. He bowled 54 overs in two innings and took 4 wickets. Miraz did not let the New Zealand batsmen take runs. He was not far behind in the days when pacers were taking wickets in that game. Additionally, he scored 47 runs in the first innings, even after getting a chance to bat.
Read More: Miraz stands tall again as Bangladesh post a challenging 271 vs India
Then, Miraz was the hero of victory in the first match of the ODI series against Afghanistan in Chittagong the next month. Chasing 215 runs, the Bangladesh team lost 6 wickets for 45 runs. Bangladesh was destined to lose as the Afghans were destroying the batting lineup with their string bowling performance. But Miraz turned around with Afif Hossain. He left the field winning the team after adding 174 runs with Afif at eight and added 81 unbeaten runs next to his name.
Miraz also contributed to Bangladesh’s first win on South African soil last March. He took 4 wickets in the field, which was not actually spinners-friendly.
Now he is ending the year with a bang as he contributed to Bangladesh’s win against India in two consecutive ODI matches.
Read More: 2nd ODI: Bangladesh struggle against dominant Indian bowlers
Miraz’s Notable performance in BAN vs IND series in 2022 So Far
In a span of four days, Miraz played in two different matches at two different times. After a fairly easy run chase on the first day after stumbling over a dramatic collapse, Miraz came as a savior. After losing 6 wickets for 69 runs with the bat in the first ODI, Bangladesh was about to lose the game. The two situations had one thing in common, “stress.” Handling that pressure in the first match with 38 runs from 39 balls and 100 from 83 balls in the next, Miraz has shown his class. It was Miraz’s first ODI century. Although the difference with respect to numbers is many, the “Miraz Miracle” of both matches is the same, win for Bangladesh.
An eye-soothing performance like that in two consecutive matches against India can’t fail to be one of the most memorable moments of Miraz’s career. In these two matches against India, besides batting, he contributed with bowling as well. He gave the first breakthrough in the first match and got the wicket of India’s highest run scorer Shreyas Iyer in the second match as well. But at the end of the day, the batting performance should be more pleasant for him.
Although these matches might not be very large as a data set, the impact of the performance of these two matches can be extensive. As Harsha Bhogle said in a tweet after Miraz’s batting, “69-6 to 271-7 is a special effort. These could be two career-changing games for Mehidy Hasan Miraz.”
Read More: BAN vs IND: Tigers eye second consecutive win
Final Words
When the team is in the worst situation, Miraz dazzles with a stunning performance. His batting is now more dependable than ever. Bowling also has the ability to do well in all conditions. After Shakib Al Hasan, if anyone can be the complete all-rounder of the Bangladesh cricket team, Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s name comes first.
1 year ago