A captain searching for his place

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, had famously said that individuals who contribute the most in the workplace often end up becoming the best managers.

While selecting who would manage a cricket team on the field as its captain, sides often go by the same logic and hand the mantle to the best performer or at least someone whose position in the side is indisputable.

For a captain, the trouble begins when either their performances don’t match expectations or when their team starts to underperform.

Almost nine months into his tenure as Bangladesh’s ODI captain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is facing both.

The ODI team has been inconsistent for a while now, a fact that has been on full display in the ongoing ODI series against Pakistan, where they decimated the visitors in the first ODI before getting outplayed in the following game.

In both games, skipper Miraz excelled with the ball, picking up five wickets in total and conceding around three runs per over.

His performances as a bowler more than justifies his place in the side. The problem, however, is that he is in the side not as a bowler, but an all-rounder.

In the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, Miraz is Bangladesh’s main all-rounder in the ODI setup, and is expected to bowl 10 overs in most games and score runs while batting in the top 7.

Since becoming the ODI skipper on June 12, 2025, Miraz has batted 10 times in 50-over affairs at four different positions -- five times at No.5, thrice at 6, and once each at 7 and 9.

Even before he was named captain, Miraz, who had spent the first six years of his ODI career as a lower-order batter, was getting opportunities in the middle-order.

Since 2024, he had batted at No.4 in seven straight matches and even came out at one-down against New Zealand in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.

Although he averaged close to 40 at No.4, his strike rate was below 70, which is abysmal by modern ODI standards.

After becoming captain, he demoted himself in the batting line-up, but his returns remained disappointing.

In this period, his average tanked to 19.33 and his scoring rate is just a shade above 70.

This can’t just be cast off as a dip in form either. He has batted 21 times at No.6 or 7 in his ODI career so far, amassing 281 runs at a paltry average of 14.05 at a strike rate of 70.6

There are 11 Bangladeshi batters who have scored more runs at these positions with a better strike rate and average than Miraz.

On Friday’s second ODI against Pakistan, Miraz came out at No.7, with Bangladesh needing 148 runs in 93 deliveries.

He took a single off the first four balls he faced and then skied the ball against pacer Faheem Ashraf and got caught at deep midwicket. Just five overs after his dismissal, Bangladesh were bundled out.

Miraz has around three months left in his 12-month contract as the Bangladesh skipper and is set to get a few more opportunities, including today’s series-deciding third ODI against Pakistan in Mirpur, to curve out a place in the batting order. 

Otherwise, he stands at risk of not just losing his captaincy, but also his place in the side, just like he has in the T20I format.