Mehidy Hasan Miraz may not have been expected to make such an immediate impact for Guyana Amazon Warriors. Playing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) for the first time, Miraz has delivered an outstanding performance in each of his first three matches. He has taken nine wickets so far, at an economy rate of 6.77. He has also been entrusted with bowling in the powerplay with the new ball.
Miraz got his CPL opportunity towards the end of the tournament after Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi left the competition to join his national team for the India series. Miraz was brought into the Guyana squad as his replacement.
Nabi was Guyana’s leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets when he left the CPL, so replacing him was never going to be easy. There were also questions over Miraz’s bowling in T20 cricket. But so far, he has certainly lived up to the challenge.
Before Miraz, four Bangladeshi cricketers had played in the CPL. How did they fare?
One name among Bangladesh’s CPL players is the easiest to guess—Shakib Al Hasan. The other three are Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and Litton Das. Interestingly, Mustafizur Rahman, another of Bangladesh’s T20 poster boys, has never played in the CPL.
Shakib Al Hasan — 628 runs and 43 wickets
As usual, Shakib has been Bangladesh’s biggest advertisement in the tournament. He has taken 43 wickets and scored 628 runs in the CPL. Across six seasons, he played 47 matches for four teams—Barbados Tridents, Antigua and Barbuda Falcons, Jamaica Tallawahs and Guyana Amazon Warriors.
Beyond his runs and wickets, however, Shakib has another distinction in CPL history. He still holds the tournament’s best bowling figures. Playing for Barbados in 2013, Shakib took six wickets for just six runs—a record that remains unbeaten in CPL history.
Tamim Iqbal — 162 runs
Tamim played just one CPL season, in 2013. Representing St Lucia that year, he scored 162 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 105.19.
Mahmudullah Riyad — 98 runs and seven wickets
Mahmudullah played in two CPL seasons. He represented Jamaica Tallawahs in 2017 and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in 2018. Across 13 matches in the two seasons, he scored 98 runs and took seven wickets.
Litton Das — 42 runs
Litton’s CPL career was even shorter. He played just two matches, both in 2019 for Jamaica Tallawahs, scoring 42 runs.
Miraz’s start has been outstanding compared with the performances of these four Bangladesh players. He had actually been picked for the CPL earlier, in 2017, when he was part of the Trinbago Knight Riders squad. But he did not get a game that season.
This time, the off-spinner has grabbed his opportunity with both hands, making an immediate impact with the ball. With the bat, however, he has yet to impress. His scores in his three CPL matches are 1, 2 and 18.
Although he scored 18 in the latest match, it came off 24 balls.
Miraz is not the only Bangladesh player to have struggled with the bat in the tournament. Shakib has also found batting difficult, averaging just 17.44. The other Bangladeshi batters have not fared particularly well either.
But Miraz’s story is somewhat different. Making his CPL debut late in the tournament, coming in as a replacement for one of his team’s central bowlers and taking nine wickets in his first three matches is genuinely an impressive achievement.
The question now is how far the Bangladesh all-rounder can take this flying start. He will have further opportunities, with Guyana Amazon Warriors having reached the playoffs. Miraz is guaranteed at least two more matches in the tournament.
