Ashraful expresses desire for Mehidy to finish games for Bangladesh

Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful said on Sunday (February 22) that ODI skipper Mehidy Hasan should bat at number seven in the 50-over format as he believes the experienced campaigner has the ability to finish games.

Bangladesh will be looking to resume international duties with the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from March 11. The second and third ODIs are scheduled on March 13 and 15.

The series is important for the hosts given they will be looking to fix their batting order in the 50-over format with many raising questions over Mehidy's promotion higher up the order at the expense of in-form Towhid Hridoy.

"See, Miraj might prefer to play in the top six, but personally, I think Miraj is the only player who had learned how to finish. If you notice the series against India, he scored 50 batting at number eight, played a match-winning innings with Mustafiz for the last wicket, and in the next match, he scored a 100 with Mahmudullah," Ashraful told reporters at Rajshahi.

"Then again, he has moved to batting order four, five, or six. I personally think, and I have talked to him in this BCL, that it would be good for him and for Bangladesh if he can play at number seven and finish the game. Because there are many other batsmen in our team, if they take that responsibility and he plays the finishing role, it would be better," he said.

Ashraful admitted adding that they need to get things back in order in ODI cricket after a few jittery performances in recent times. "See, if you look at our three formats, we are playing good cricket in two formats. ODI has been our best format for the last one or one and a half years, but we are lagging a bit in that format now. Because if you see, three big players in our middle order - Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah, and Shakib - after their departure, whoever is playing is performing but we are not getting results," he said.

"You know that to play in the 2027 World Cup, we have to be in the top seven or eight. Every series and every match is important for us. Miraj is very focused on that. We, the coaching staff, are also thinking about how we can play straight in the 2027 World Cup," he said.

Ashraful added that it is time to look past Bangladesh's decision to not take part in the ongoing T20 World Cup and instead focus on the future. "There's no point in worrying about what has already passed. If we keep dwelling on that, we won't be able to move forward. So after that, we played a wonderful T20 tournament and there were high-scoring games in the final match. Now BCL is coming up, Pakistan will visit. Life won't go on if we keep dwelling on that," said the former national skipper.

Meanwhile, Najmul Hossain Shanto insisted that BCL, a tournament organized by the board at the request of BCB cricket operations to help the national cricketers get some 50-over matches under their belt, will be a perfect tournament to prepare them for the Pakistan series. "This is an excellent tournament for preparation. It provides opportunities for new cricketers and those playing regularly in the domestic circuit. All four teams are strong, and we are playing at two great venues where high scores are common. If we perform well here, we'll head into the Pakistan series with solid preparation," said Najmul.

BCB initially announced that they were looking to host the BCL as an Under-23 One-Day tournament from February to develop the pipeline for the national team. But as it stands, they are currently planning to shelve it for the time being. Cricbuzz understands that BCB cricket operations recently asked the BCB tournament committee to push the proposed Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) Under-23 version from February to some other suitable time. Instead, the BCL One-Day tournament will be given the green light which shall consist of senior team players.

The much-anticipated one-day version of the BCL is set to begin on Monday, with most of the country's top-level players featuring across four teams at different venues around the country. On the opening day, East Zone will take on North Zone at Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, while Central Zone will face South Zone at Rajshahi Divisional Stadium.