Cricket News: Mehidy Hasan repays the Bangladesh board's faith in him with interest
From early on in his career, Mehidy Hasan has been a player in whom the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have shown plenty of faith.
Mehidy HasanAfter all, he led the U-19 team to a semi-final appearance in the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2016, which was the Tigers' maiden appearance in the last four of the tournament.
He was fast-tracked into the team later that year, but his career since then – even though he's had his moments – has been a wait-and-watch rather than him seizing the moment and making himself a player to watch.
Not anymore. Two match-winning knocks against India helped Bangladesh win an ODI series, and suddenly, Hasan is the talk of the cricketing world.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">69/6 to 271/7! What a recovery from Bangladesh led by that man Mehidy again along with Mahmudullah! Mehidy has come of age in this series 👏🏽 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BANvIND?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BANvIND</a> <a href="https://t.co/o89KuPQh7H">pic.twitter.com/o89KuPQh7H</a></p>— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) <a href="https://twitter.com/WasimJaffer14/status/1600436072764567552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It isn't just that, however. It's the fact that he scored his first ODI ton at a time when Bangladesh needed a significant partnership badly, one that he and Mahmudullah provided.
India would be forgiven for kicking themselves over their lack of penetration in the middle overs. After all, they had Bangladesh reeling at 69-6 and should have gotten them out for an under-par score.
However, the partnership between Mehidy and Mahmudullah, as well as the former's charge once the latter got out, changed the game.
Later, Mehidy admitted his partnership was vital to Bangladesh going on to eventually win the game while also saying he didn't expect to score a 100.
"We never had a target in mind. We lost six wickets. So how many could we score? We tried to take one ball at a time, build a small partnership, and not think about setting a target."
"We tried to play to the situation and talked to each other regularly. It is a great moment for me to get my first ODI century. I will never forget this moment. It is a big deal for me."
"India is one of the best teams in the world. Performing well against a big team is always great. We have won a second ODI series against India."
"I never really planned specifically to do really well. Luck favoured me. I never believed that I could get the hundred. I was playing for the team, had the flow and it happened by Allah's grace."
Mehidy's rise to prominence also comes at a time when Bangladesh are in a period of transition. The likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman are ageing, and it is clear there is a need for fresh blood.
At 25, Mehidy has a long career ahead of him and hopes to become the lynchpin of this side in due course. To do that, he needed some consistent form with the bat.
There's no better side to do well against in world cricket than India, so the hope will now be that he kicks on from here and continues to develop into a top-class all-rounder.
Should he deliver, Bangladesh may have found itself a new leader for the foreseeable future.