The Bangladesh team management is relieved to see their new-look opening pair of Litton Kumar Das and Tanzid Tamim along with their makeshift back-up opener Mehedy Hasan getting runs under their belt in the warm-up games.
Since Tamim Iqbal was not included in the 15-member World Cup squad, a major talking point revolved around the Bangladesh team regarding Litton’s opening partner and the back-up opener.
There were high-scale speculations about Mohammad Naim and Anamul Haque making the cut in the 15 member squad either as the regular opener or as a back-up.
The think tank was certainly concerned with the opening slot, considering that their opening pair in the last 10 ODIs averaged 20.4. So when Litton and Tanzid put up a century stand in the practice game against Sri Lanka, it looked to have done a world of good to them.
There was never a question about Litton’s ability but there have been doubts whether Tanzid can prove himself to belong at the highest level. Many cricket pundits raised a question regarding the timing of his selection as they felt he would find it hard to handle the pressure at this level. However, Tanzid has risen to the challenge, making 84 and 45 runs respectively against Sri Lanka and England in the warm-ups.
“I saw him closely in the Emerging Cup and knew what kind of player he is. So it really didn’t surprise me to see him play those shots. Rather what was important for me was that he got some runs under his belt in the practice game as that would make him confident going into the main event,” Habibul Bashar, Bangladesh selection panel member, told Cricbuzz. He also added that they should make sure not to put pressure on him by comparing him all the time with the legendary Tamim who remained one of the backbone of Bangladesh batting for long period of time.
“I think this comparison is unnecessary between them because they are different individuals and have different skill sets. We should rather focus on giving him (Tanzid) to be his own in the middle as that is the most important thing. If we always keep comparing him with Tamim (Iqbal), it is bound to affect the young mind,” he said.
Bangladesh gamble of picking Mehedy as third opener in order to accommodate a fifth seam bowler in the side also seems to have paid off if the practice games performance is taken into consideration. The right-handed batsman put up half centuries in both the innings with the latter remaining most significant considering it came up against England, who possess a very deadly pace attack.
Mehidy, who was tried as an opener for the first time during the Asia Cup final in 2018 against India, was promoted to open the innings in the recent past as well and he seized the opportunity by making an unbeaten 112 runs against Afghanistan in the just concluded Asia Cup.
His performance against the Afghans prompted the team management to consider him as back-up opener though many questioned on whether Mehedy could handle real pace but on Monday, the right-handed batsman gave ample proof that he has got what it took to negotiate pace and bounce that was on offer by the English pace unit.
“I think it is relieving to see (Mehedy scoring runs against England),” said Habibul.
“I think it is better not to go into any issue with Miraj (Mehidy) because you might feel that he won’t be able to play against a team with such a pack attack but he will surprise you because he is a fighter and a genuine fighter,” he said, adding that he has the X factor that is required to score runs.
“I think no one should have any doubt whether he will be able to do it or not. It is because at the international level, at times more than skill and technique, what is required is the fact how good a player you are.
“Certainly skill and technique are required but in cricket, if you want to succeed you need something more than that and Miraj has that,” he added.
Whether Bangladesh’s new-look top-order succeeds or not remains to be seen in the World Cup but they have given indications that they are ready for the show piece event by getting some much needed runs under their belt in the practice game.
