Miraz feels his role will have greater importance when Shakib retires

Bangladesh's Mehedi Hasan Miraz has been a very useful prospect for the Tigers in recent years and his performances in Pakistan recently garnered attention and drew comparison with ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Although his bowling stats are pretty close to what Shakib's was eight years into the left-arm spinner's career, Miraz's batting stats in Tests is still not as good as Shakib's. Miraz's performances with the bat, especially in the second Test in Rawalpindi, when he rescued the team in partnership with Liton Das, has made Miraz a formidable contender as a true all-rounder.

Miraz feels that having two all-rounders like him and Shakib in the side is important to the team but also remarked that when Shakib stops playing, he would have a more important role to play in the side.

"When there are all-rounders in the side, it's advantageous to the team. Since we are both playing, we are both serving in important roles with bat and ball," Miraz told reporters at Mirpur after the Test team's practice session today.

Shakib's career has been immense since his debut back in 2006, scoring over 14,000 runs and grabbing 700 wickets in international cricket. Miraz feels that he will be a sort of replacement when Bangladesh's legendary all-rounder retires.

"In world cricket, everyone has to go into retirement at some point in time. Every team has some sort of replacement. When Shakib bhai won't play anymore, maybe my responsibility will be of greater importance for the team," he said.

After creating many turnarounds with the bat and ball during Pakistan series, Miraz said he wants to continue in the same vein in order to become the best all-rounder in the world.

"The way it's going on now, if I can continue that for a long time then hopefully I can become the best all-rounder," he concluded.