'I can become more attacking in second innings': Miraz eyes fourth-innings havoc

Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz spearheaded the Tigers’ comeback with his 14th five-wicket haul in Tests as the hosts edged ahead on Day 3 of the opening Test against Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.

And on a surface that had initially expected to favour the pacers, Miraz hinted that Pakistan may yet face a sterner challenge when Bangladesh come to bowl in the fourth innings.

Bangladesh eventually bundled Pakistan out for 386 in 100.3 overs to secure a slender 27-run first-innings lead before ending the day on seven without loss.

After enduring a draining second day in the field, during which Pakistan closed on 179 for one and later progressed to 210 for one, Bangladesh finally found a way back through a destructive morning spell shared by Taskin Ahmed and Miraz. The duo triggered a collapse that saw Pakistan lose four wickets for just 20 runs in the opening session.

Taskin removed centurion Azan Awais for 103 and Pakistan captain Shan Masood for nine, while Miraz accounted for Saud Shakeel for a duck and Abdullah Fazal for 60 as the visitors slumped to 251 for five by Lunch.

Miraz, who had also provided Bangladesh with the breakthrough on the previous day by dismissing opener Imam-ul-Haq, later explained the balancing act required of a spinner on surfaces that do not offer much for spinners – knowing when to contain and when to attack.

“As a spinner, wherever I play Test cricket on true wickets, my mindset is always to bowl in the right areas and, if possible, pick up two or three wickets by the end of the day. In the second innings, when the ball starts turning, that is when I can become a more attacking bowler,” Miraz said on Sunday.

“When we play on such true wickets, especially on surfaces that favour pace bowling, as a spinner my mindset is that I won’t get much help from the wicket in the first three days. If I bowl in the right areas and the batter makes a mistake, then I have a chance of getting wickets. We usually try to make use of the conditions from Days 4 and 5, though sometimes we also get assistance from Day 3. So my mindset was simply to keep bowling in good areas.”

“When I came on to bowl, the team was a bit on the back foot because we had already conceded a lot of runs without taking wickets. So my responsibility was to keep things tight from one end. If I leaked runs, the game would have opened up even more for them and they could have scored another 30 or 40 runs, which would have put us under even more pressure.”

Salman Agha and Mohammad Rizwan then repaired the damage with a 119-run sixth-wicket stand, both bringing up half-centuries to steady the innings once again.

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam eventually broke the partnership by dismissing Rizwan for 59, while Nahid Rana removed Agha for 58 two overs later to expose the tail.

Miraz then returned to clean up the lower order, removing Noman Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, before Taijul dismissed Hasan Ali to end the innings.

The five-wicket haul was Miraz’s first in more than 12 months, during which he had managed only five wickets across three Tests against Ireland and Sri Lanka.

Yet despite that lean run, Miraz remains a formidable force in home conditions, particularly as matches wear on and surfaces deteriorate. His warning about becoming a more attacking option in the second innings will hardly comfort Pakistan, with the Mirpur pitch expected to deteriorate further over the final two days – conditions Miraz knows better than most.

The numbers reinforce that reputation. In 24 second-innings spells in home Tests, Miraz averages 20.26 -- significantly better than his first-innings average of 30.81. His strike rate also improves dramatically, from 63.7 in the first innings to 43.4 in the second.

He has taken 69 wickets in 30 first-innings spells at home, but has remarkably claimed 60 wickets in only 24 second-innings efforts. When the pitch begins to crack and crumble in Bangladesh, Miraz often becomes far more than just a containing spinner, he often becomes the game’s defining threat.

Still, the all-rounder was cautious about reading too much into Bangladesh’s narrow lead, insisting the Test remained finely poised.

“No, definitely not. There are still two days left, so the result is still in a 50-50 situation. We haven’t got a huge lead yet, and we have to bat responsibly. You never really know in Mirpur what score is safe. But we need to put up at least a total that our bowlers can defend. I think around 290 to 300 could be a good score on this wicket because batting will become very difficult on Days 4 and 5. But every batter has to take responsibility.”

Miraz also stressed that while the pitch had remained good for batting for most of the match, the real challenge was still to come.

“I think the wicket was very good for the first three days, and it is still playing well. But naturally, it will become a bit difficult on Days 4 and 5 because the match has been going on continuously and both teams have already batted once. So the batters will need to show responsibility. I believe the team batting on the fifth day will face the tougher challenge, so we should definitely have the advantage.”