Mehidy Hasan Miraz

Bangladesh were blessed to have more than one top-class allrounder in a generation when offspinner-batter Mehidy Hasan Miraz came along during Shakib Al Hasan's career.

Mehidy burst onto the scene with 19 wickets in the two Tests of his maiden series against England, in 2016, and never looked back, establishing himself as a world-class spinner before developing into a reliable middle-order batter.

Mehidy has a front-on action that relies on flight, trajectory and various grips. From humble beginnings in Khulna, where he learned his cricket from Sheikh Salahuddin, the former international, he progressed through the age-group ranks. He was the Player-of-the-Tournament in the Under-19 World Cup in 2016, when his 12 wickets and 242 runs helped Bangladesh to third place.

His stellar debut series was followed by unexceptional ones against South Africa and Sri Lanka, but he bounced back in 2018 with his first overseas Test five-for, against West Indies. And he crushed that opposition with his second 12-wicket match haul when they came to Bangladesh later that year.

Mehidy's much improved batting was showcased when he stepped up to open the innings in the Asia Cup final in 2018. But the 2019-to-2021 period was a blip, when he was mostly unable to string together all-round or match-winning performances - including in the ODI World Cup.

He broke out of his funk in an ODI against Afghanistan in 2022, when he added 81 in a stand of 174 with Afif Hossain, for the seventh wicket, after Bangladesh crashed to 45 for 6. He would get the team out of trouble twice more later in the year. In the first of those instances, in December, needing 51 runs with one wicket in hand against India, Mehidy's 38 not out in the company of the No. 11, Mustafizur Rahman, took Bangladesh to an unlikely victory. In the next match of that series, his unbeaten century from No. 8 after they slipped to 69 for 6 gave them the series. He capped it with a five-wicket haul in the Dhaka Test.

Mehidy's stature grew further when, opening the batting for the second time in his career, he struck an unbeaten 112 against Afghanistan in the 2023 Asia Cup in Lahore. He returned to Pakistan with a stronger performance the following year, when, in the first Test in Rawalpindi, he struck one of five fifties in the Bangladesh innings; he then took four wickets in Pakistan's second innings, helping the visitors to a ten-wicket win. He topped that in the next game, beginning with a five-wicket haul before coming in to bat on the second morning, when Bangladesh were on 26 for 6. He made 78 runs for the seventh wicket with Litton Das, who made a hundred. It paved the way for Bangladesh's magical 2-0 win and the Player of the Series award for Mehidy.

The year would get more eventful - after a 97 against South Africa, he captained Bangladesh for the first time, leading them to a Test win in Jamaica. He ended 2024 with over 1000 international runs and 40 wickets, following in the footsteps of Shakib, who achieved that particular double three times. Mehidy would emulate Shakib again in 2025, this time with a Test century and five-for against Zimbabwe, before being named Bangladesh's ODI captain.