Shakib harbours hope in growing leadership
Tigers could neither quite catch the high of that win in Mount Maunganui, nor the ODI series win away to South Africa, or the recently-concluded ODI series victory against India, as they failed to clinch the second Test against India in Mirpur yesterday.
However, the performances of two of the cricketers' in Liton Das and Mehedi Miraz, who are not quite inside the sphere of 'seniors' but left their mark this year, have seen Bangladesh cricket turn a corner.
Skipper Shakib Al Hasan was hopeful of Bangladesh's near future in Tests and their World Cup aspirations. Those goals will find more security with the performances of Liton and Miraz.
Liton is the second-highest run-getter across all three formats combined this year, having piled up 1921 runs. He starred at Mount Maunganui with the bat alongside Mominul Haque in a pivotal partnership during a historic Test win against the World Test champions.
He then struck a ton at Christchurch when others failed to inspire. While Liton struggled a little in South Africa, he scored bags of runs at home in the Sri Lanka Tests. His 73 was pivotal to Bangladesh taking a lead in the second Test in Mirpur on Saturday, after which the Tigers came very close to winning another historic Test at year's end.
While Liton's leadership was crucial behind the stumps in Mount Maunganui, and in absence of veteran opener and ODI captain Tamim Iqbal in the India series, Liton led the ODI side to a 2-1 series win.
Shakib suggested that good stories are not always well written. "You talk about the stories of disappointments really well, the good ones not so much. That is the problem," he said in the press conference yesterday, and went on to highlight the growing leadership within the team.
"Overall, if I have to summarise 2022, I have to say that we have played really good cricket. Especially the mentality, where we may have had a huge lacking, we have improved a lot here.
"I think the thought process we have and what is being discussed in the dressing room, and the growing leadership, makes me think we will see a difference in 2023," the Bangladesh skipper said about players growing into leadership roles that brings hope for the future.
Liton had earlier said on Saturday that he wanted to maintain his performances as a prolific scorer this year. Once criticised for subpar performances that did little to justify his talents, Liton has grown into a stable cross-format star. He now understands criticism and understands his role in helping the team win.
"When there's a tag behind your name, criticism and praise are part and parcel of the game. I am not worried about it. I want to maintain my place [as a run-scorer], but it is difficult. You can't reach the same level every year. I want to be successful with my ability," Liton had said.
"I always rate Miraz as a key player," he said regarding Miraz, who had bagged three in the third day's last session to leave India on the back-foot.
Miraz went onto bag two more, completing a fifer and was unlucky of not scalping the crucial wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin, who was dropped on one.
Miraz's variations, his abilities -- of reading batters' shortcomings and finding out ploys with genuinely good deliveries -- were all showcased in the Mirpur Test. He ended as the seventh-highest wicket-taker across formats with 59 dismissals to his name this year.
"It is a settled team. There's always room for fine-tuning. Except one or two places, it is a settled side," Shakib said of Bangladesh's Test side.
"We should win all three Test series in 2023. We should have a T20 team ready in the next six months, one that will do very well in the 2024 T20 World Cup. We have a settled ODI side. We have lost just one home series since 2015.
"If we can play as a team, get contributions from every aspect, we should do well in the World Cup," came Shakib's affirmation as Tigers look to new leadership from the group.