Stats: Mehidy Hasan joins a rare list of players to open the batting and bowling in the same ODI

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was finally given the opportunity to showcase his batting skills as he was asked to open alongside Liton Das in the Asia Cup final. The off-spinner tackled the Indian pacers and the wrist spinners very well to share a 120-run opening stand. Mehidy might have scored only 32 off 59 balls but his presence at the crease helped the cause for Bangladesh. It was the first time ever that Mehidy opened the innings with the bat in his career.

The 20-year-old was known for his exploits with the bat at the Under-19 level. Leading the Bangladesh team in the 2016 U19 CWC, Mehidy struck four consecutive fifties. He was the first to achieve this feat in the history of the tournament which was equalled by India’s Shubman Gill earlier this year. He went on to win the man of the series award for his all-round performances which led the home team to the semi-finals.

A rare double for Mehidy

After opening the innings with the bat, Mehidy bowled the first over of India’s innings in the final. Thus, he became the first player from Bangladesh to open the batting and bowling in the same ODI match. In fact, Mehidy is also the first Bangladesh player to open both batting and bowling in an international match. Overall, he is the 43rd player to achieve this feat and only the 5th in the Asia Cup. JR Ratnayeke, Manoj Prabhakar, Asim Saeed, and Mohammad Hafeez are the other four players to open the batting and bowling in the Asia Cup.

A total of 19 countries have had at least one player to achieve this rare double. India have had as many as five players with this double but none of them has replicated it since 2005. The first player to open with both bat and ball in an ODI was Frasat Ali in the 1975 World Cup while playing for East Africa against New Zealand. In the game against India in the tournament, Frasat faced the first ball for his team and also bowled the first ball of the opposition’s innings.

First player to open batting and bowling in the same ODI for a country:

(Stats as on September 29, 2018)