Miraz out to emulate Herath’s mental strength

DHAKA —Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the spin bowling allrounder of Bangladesh expressed his desire to be as mentally strong as their new spin bowling coach Rangana Herath.

After watching Herath from the close range, Miraz believed the mental strength could help him make a giant leap in International cricket as the players who established them as the big players possess this skill.

“We have a new spin coach who is sharing his experience with us. He is a very successful bowler. He worked with us for three or four days and talked to us on different subjects. If we can make use of the technical and tactical aspects he is working on, it will be good for us,” Miraz said in a video message sent by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

“Another thing, he is very strong mentally. We also get mental support from him. I like the thing very much. The strategies he is showing us will be very useful if we can use them,” he added.

In his playing life, Herath showed his mental strength always on the ground and was never tired of bowling overs after overs. While he continuously bowled from one end, he was also expert in containing the runs in unhelpful wickets for the spinners.

Miraz said he basically wants to emulate this mental strength of Herath.

The only Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe will start on July 7 in Harare Sports Club. The team played a two-day warm-up match to warm themselves up. The visitors played well in the warm-up match but what pleased them mostly was the form of Shakib Al Hasan.

The ace allrounder was in patchy batting form since his return to competitive cricket following the ICC-imposed ban. But here he cracked a fluent 56 ball-71 before snapping up three wickets with cherry. Alongside him other batsmen and bowlers also dazzled to make it a perfect practice game for Bangladesh.

Opener Saif Hasan scored 65 while Nazmul Hossain Shanto made 52. Tamim Iqbal who didn’t bat in the first innings, was included into the side for the second innings and he batted to score 18 not out.

Amongst the bowlers, Mehidy Hasan Miraz also took three wickets and said it was Shakib Al Hasan who gave him some good tips to be successful in Zimbabwe conditions.

“Shakib bhai gave some tips on the field and I followed that. It worked well for me and hence I got three wickets,” he informed.

 “Moreover our batsmen have played positive cricket which will give us a lot of confidence in the Test match. If we can play the way we played, then we can expect a good result in the first Test,” he opined.

“The spinners have bowled very well. Shakib Bhai has started very well. I also gave good support to Shakib Bhai. It’s an advantage for our team, because the spinners got wickets. If the spinners can get wickets or stop runs then it is good for the team,” he concluded.BSS