Bangladesh captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz faced the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday, the day before the first of three ODIs against Australia, Bangladesh’s first home ODI series against them since April 2011.
Australia have won all four recent bilateral ODI series against Bangladesh 3-0, and have won 20 of their 21 completed ODIs between the two sides. Miraz acknowledged the record without deflecting from it. “We will try our best to play good cricket. Everyone is in form, batters, bowlers, all in good touch and played well in the DPL. This is a huge opportunity for us. It is a home ground. If we can take it, it will be very good for us,” he said.
The captaincy itself has been a topic of debate in Bangladesh cricket. Miraz took criticism early in his tenure when results did not follow. He owned it plainly. “In the beginning there was a lot of criticism, and criticism will come if we cannot perform well. We accept that,” he said. He then redirected immediately to what matters now. Bangladesh have won their last three ODI series, including a 2-1 victory over New Zealand in April. “We have won the last three series. This series is also very important because the World Cup equation is ahead of us. If we can maintain what we have done in those three series, I think we will do well. From now we will mentally prepare for how we want to play at the World Cup, and we will face Australia there too.”
Australia arrive without several senior players, with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all absent, and Miraz confirmed on Monday that Mitch Marsh and Travis Head will also not travel. He refused to treat their absence as a tactical windfall. “They have still brought a very good and strong team. We will not think too much about them. We will focus on performing from our end,” he said.
On his own batting, Miraz accepted the pressure his role carries. “The team demands a lot from me with the bat and I think about it myself. If I bat well it gives the team a big advantage from the position I bat. I have worked on it and played in the Dhaka League. Small contributions matter a lot from where I bat,” he said.
