Bangladesh received plenty of strong efforts from a variety of their XI across the first Teat, with Player of the Match Hasan Mahmud picking up six wickets in the first innings and nine for the match, opener Tanzid Hasan scoring a superb century when the game was on the line and Miraz making strong contributions with both bat and ball.
The victory came on the back of a disappointing thrashing to Cricket Australia XI just prior to the first Test when they were bowled out for just 54 in their second innings of Bangladesh’s only tour match, but Miraz said the side’s management never lost faith in their ability.
“When I was struggling myself, our team manager, Nafis Iqbal, gave me a lot of encouragement on how to play in these conditions.
“I was very happy mentally and talked to him a lot. At one point, he even bowled to me in the nets, and I faced his bowling.
“I also want to mention Mushtaq Ahmed from the team management. After we lost the first match, he went to every single player and told us, ‘Have faith. If you believe, winning is possible, and faith can take you a long way. Starting from those small things, we began to believe, and you can all see the results today.”
