'Under-19 is just the beginning'

Leading the team to its best finish in the ICC Under-19 World Cup, receiving the player-of-the-tournament award and getting a chance to lead the world eleven were all overshadowed by the event that took place when Bangladesh Under-19s captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz reached his home city Khulna late on Tuesday afternoon. 

“I still can't believe it -- around 3,000 people gathered to give me a reception.  We are living in a rented house in Dakshin Kashipur of the city and the warmth and love our neighbours are showing are unbelievable,” said an emotion-choked Miraz.  The excitement and enthusiasm he saw among his neighbours shows that cricket is second only to religion in the country.  Nevertheless, history has taught us that this kind of emotion or attention will not last forever, at least for an Unde-19 star, until and unless he graduates to the senior level and replicates his success there. Refreshingly, Miraz was well aware of the fact.

The young man made a bold statement after being adjudged man of the tournament in the just concluded ICC Under-19 World Cup. “I am looking forward to playing for the national team, which is an ultimate goal for any cricketer. But I have to become a complete cricketer to fulfil my dream."  What did it mean to him when he said 'complete cricketer'? Was it a spontaneous remark or a well-thought comment from a young cricketer?

His answer to these questions reveals a mature mind. “What I understand after spending a few years in cricket is that I need to go a long way to become a complete cricketer. To put it simply, I can be a complete cricketer only after playing enough longer-version cricket. I know everybody will forget someday what Miraz did in 2016 if I fail to make my presence felt in international cricket. Many cricketers showed their potential in the past at under-19 level but only a few survived.”

“I am not someone who can comment on the standard of our domestic cricket or longer-version cricket but if you find any kind of maturity in my approach, I gained it from my two seasons of experience in longer-version cricket. I learned a lot playing for Khulna along with Raj bhai [Abdur Razzak], Imrul bhai [Imrul Kayes], Shakib bhai [Shakib Al Hasan] and many other senior players. You can understand the situation best if you play longer-version cricket. So I firmly believe that I need to do well in domestic circuit as well as with the A team if I want to graduate to the next stage,” continued Miraz, who at this moment is concentrating on his coming HSC examinations.

Miraz wants to keep a few words that he repeatedly heard from former Australian batsman Stuart Law, who worked with the team as a technical advisor. “Law always told us that you just forget what you did today and work hard for tomorrow. So there is no way that we can be satisfied with our success in any stage and under-19 is just the beginning for a player.”

 “I want to play for the national team in the future, I want to be the best all-rounder and a world-class cricketer like Shakib bhai and all that will only come through hard work and a bit of luck. I always follow Mushfiq bhai [Mushfiqur Rahim] because of his hard work and dedication and he is also a good human being, which is the most important thing in life,” he said.  

Miraz has a desire to become a complete cricketer and he believes the way to do that is by playing longer-version cricket. Miraz and Co have gotten almost all modern-day facilities in their formative years but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) must think whether they are providing the expected standard in domestic first-class cricket for players like Miraz to fulfil their ambitions. Miraz was understandably reluctant to comment on the existing standards in domestic cricket, but just like the young all-rounder is brimming with promise yet to be fulfilled, the standards in domestic cricket are a long way away from enabling these budding cricketers to realise their potential.