Captain Miraz’s all-round test in Antigua

Not often can a cricketer boast reaching a milestone just by stepping onto the field. But on Friday, all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz reached not one but two significant career milestones when he went out for the toss ahead of the first of the two Tests against West Indies in Antigua.

Miraz, in the absence of regular captain Najmul Hossain Shanto who is out injured, became the 14th cricketer to lead the Tigers in Tests and also earned his 50th Test cap alongside teammate Taijul Islam.

As one of only seven cricketers to play 50 Tests for Bangladesh, Miraz is undoubtedly among the most experienced Test cricketers of the country. Playing in the ongoing series, only Mominul Haque has played more Tests than him in the Bangladesh squad (68).

Experience inevitably attracts responsibility, and adding the role of captaincy on top of it, the pressure is definitely mounting high on Miraz in the Windies Tests.

On top of that, the absences of all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim, and Shanto have created a vacuum in the batting department and made it exceedingly difficult for the team management to form a balanced unit.

In a bid to have five proper bowling options, something they did not have in the two Tests against South Africa at home and suffered dearly for it, the management made the call to pick four bowlers -- pacers Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam and spinner Taijul -- and place Miraz in the all-rounder's role for the Antigua Test.

Till the West Indies Tests, Miraz has been Bangladesh's most successful batter in the ongoing cycle of the ICC World Test Championship, making 561 runs in 11 innings with five half-centuries.

Miraz has been scoring crucial runs for the Tigers batting at number 7 and 8 and in the ongoing Test, there is a possibility of him occupying the number 6 position, usually reserved for Shakib in Tests.

Form-wise, this should be the ideal time for the 27-year-old to bat higher up the order. However, his past record in the Caribbean as a batter in Tests does not present a rosy picture.

The right-hander has batted eight times in five Tests against the hosts in the Caribbean and has reached the double-figure mark only once, making 10 in the second innings in Kingston back in 2018.

He averages an appalling 4.12 with the bat in Tests in West Indies, whereas his career average is a shade below 23 and his average in the last two years has been a shade above 39.

West Indies have packed their eleven with four pacers and would try to run through the Tigers' batting line-up, like they had done many times in recent tours.

Miraz deferred this trial by pace by choosing to bowl first after winning the toss, but he and the Bangladesh batters will have to face the music in the second innings.

For Miraz, the Antigua Test began with achieving two milestones. However, if he fails to deliver with the bat and succumbs to the West Indies' attack as he has in the past, the ending would not feel as sweet for the all-rounder.