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With Bangladesh languishing near the bottom of the ODI rankings, Mehidy Hasan Miraz has his task cut out as they eye direct qualification for the 2027 World Cup

Mohammad Isam01-Jul-2025Keep the team unitedMehidy has the unenviable task of uniting the Bangladesh team at a time of great upheaval – not something that’s new to Bangladesh captains.Related

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Najmul Hossain Shanto was sacked as ODI captain in Mehidy’s favour, and has also resigned as the Test captain. He said the decision to step down as Test captain wasn’t “personal”, but also said he wasn’t sure “three captains in three formats” would be ideal. Shanto might be hurting, even if he hasn’t said it. He had ambitions with both the Test and ODI teams but now will be expected to adjust under a different captain in ODIs.Mehidy might have to remove all the eggshells strewn around the dressing room before figuring out a way to take the ODI team in his desired direction.Decide his own batting positionWhere Mehidy chooses to bat in the ODI series against Sri Lanka will give an early glimpse into his mindset as captain. While a permanent fixture in the ODI side, he has been a floater in the batting line-up, even though he has learnt to pace his innings better whatever the position. He must now choose his batting position, or at least a role, to give the rest of the team a sense of stability.Tanzid Hasan and who? Eyes will be on the opening pair•AFP/Getty ImagesWho will open with Tanzid?Tanzid Hasan is one of Bangladesh’s incumbent openers. But with Litton Das and Mohammad Naim back, there are questions around the second opener’s spot.Soumya Sarkar has been left out to work on his fitness, while Parvez Hossain Emon, part of the ODI squad, is still work in progress in this format.Litton had been going through a lean patch before he was dropped for the Champions Trophy – he only has six runs in his last five innings. But his experience and seniority may give him the edge over Naim and Emon. Litton’s keeping will also allow for a bit more balance in the line-up.Shanto, meanwhile, is likely to return to his No. 3 role, despite opening in Bangladesh’s last ODI and scoring 77.Rebuild the engine roomBangladesh’s biggest challenge would be to rebuild their middle order. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah are retired, Shakib Al Hasan had planned Champions Trophy 2025 to be his international swansong, but his political connections have meant that his future remains uncertain. Bangladesh have a void in their middle order, one that is worth about 760 ODIs in experience. But there is promise.Towhid Hridoy has played 35 ODIs, while Mehidy has made improvements to his white-ball batting. Jaker Ali has impressed in all three formats, but has played only seven ODIs. Shamim Hossain, a T20 basher, is the middle-order back-up. This is where Bangladesh perhaps could have looked towards Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan or Mosaddek Hossain.Previous head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe lost patience with Afif but the left-hand batter remains a young and viable option. Nurul and Mosaddek have international experience plus List A numbers to back that up. Even the uncapped Irfan Sukkur has racked up impressive runs in the middle-order in the Dhaka Premier League in the last three years.Get the spin attack to fireBangladesh have had a massive dip in their spin attack since Shakib’s last ODI in November 2023. They have averaged 65.69 in 15 matches and have taken just 23 wickets. Mehidy has taken nine wickets at 71.44, while Rishad Hossain and Nasum Ahmed haven’t stepped up from time to time. Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam is still uncapped in ODIs. He had a difficult time in the T20Is against UAE in May, picking up just two wickets in two appearances at an economy of 8.37.Bangladesh spinners’ form in ODIs has mirrored that of Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s in recent time•BCBThe bad news for Bangladesh is that they are playing Sri Lanka, who have had the most successful spin attack at home since November 2023.Recognise ODI specialists among fast bowlersWith spin being work in progress, Mehidy will have to rely more on his pace attack. The return of Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman is a boost, while Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana and Tanzim Hasan have impressed in red- and white-ball cricket.Mehidy has to quickly recognise his ODI specialists, especially with a World Cup in two years. Taskin and Mustafizur are big names but how Mehidy uses Rana and Tanzim will be crucial.Move up the ODI rankingsBangladesh could gain a spot in the ODI rankings if they beat Sri Lanka. Mehidy has his task cut out with Bangladesh eyeing direct qualification for the 2027 ODI World Cup. They are in danger of not making the cut-off.Mehidy also has to live up to Bangladesh’s expectations from their ODI captain. This is Bangladesh’s best format. The last captain to have a healthy win-rate was Tamim Iqbal. Shakib and Shanto couldn’t quite carry that forward. Mehidy comes in as captain at a very critical time. He is fighting time, while keeping a close eye on the rankings table.

“Leave the football before the football leaves you.” That was the sentence Jamie Carragher reserved for a certain Manchester United player by the name of Casemiro back in May 2024.

It’s safe to say that the Brazilian, once a football legend, a serial winner at Real Madrid, had seen his powers wane.

He was making countless mistakes, looked like he was running through treacle and was the shadow of a player who had featured on 336 occasions for Madrid.

18 months on and Casemiro looks like a legandary player again. He may not be capable of featuring for a period of 90 minutes but the 2025/26 campaign has arguably been his best since moving to Old Trafford.

The 33-year-old is making a huge impact, notably scoring on three occasions and registering an assist. He’s finally come good in United colours.

However, the fact that he can’t last 90 minutes is the problem. His backup in the shape of Manuel Ugarte continues to struggle.

Why it's time for Ugarte to leave Man Utd

In the summer of 2024, INEOS spent a great deal on bringing the bullish Uruguayan to Old Trafford, as much as £42m.

He was seen as the heir to Casemiro, someone who could fix their lack of energy and tenacity in the middle of the park.

The big Brazilian was floundering and the more minute Ugarte was here to fix the problem. Yet, he has been more of a hindrance, particularly as Casemiro has returned to form.

So far this term, the midfield veteran has only completed one 90 minutes in the Premier League and in a bid to see out the game, Ruben Amorim has usually tried to rely on Ugarte. However, the South American has been anything but reliable.

Arsenal

65

Fulham

53

Burnley

72

Man City

Did not start

Chelsea

45

Brentford

Suspended

Sunderland

85

Liverpool

58

Brighton

70

Nott’m Forest

Was not subbed

Spurs

72

With the 24-year-old out of the team, the Red Devils have scored 15 goals at a rate of twice per 90 and have conceded eight times, once per 90 minutes.

However, with Ugarte in the team, Amorim’s side have scored just four times, 1.3 per 90 minutes and have shipped ten goals, a whopping 3.2 per 90.

The data is clear; United are a poorer side when the big-money midfielder is in the team. While he has come on and helped his teammates to victories over Chelsea, Sunderland, Liverpool and Brighton, he has also come on and been a hindrance.

When he entered the action at the weekend in the 2-2 draw with Spurs, it was 1-0 to United at the time. In the 3-1 defeat to Brentford, he came on at 2-1. During the 1-1 draw with Fulham, Amorim’s charges were leading 1-0 when Ugarte was brought off the bench. To make matters worse, he also started the 3-0 loss to rivals Manchester City.

So, why do things go so wrong when he’s on the field? Well, his inability to break up the play and anticipate what happens on the field is a huge issue. That was seen during the draw with Spurs on Saturday when Ugarte simply let Wilson Odobert breeze past him in the build-up to Mathys Tel’s equaliser.

With Kobbie Mainoo on the bench, it does beg the question, why Ugarte? While the Uruguay international is the more traditional holding midfielder, they need more energy and legs when Casemiro heads to the bench. Mainoo would bring that in abundance.

Saying that, the academy graduate isn’t the only Ugarte solution up Amorim’s sleeve. Another future superstar at Carrington is getting ready to make an impact.

Man United's surprise Ugarte replacement

Cutting their losses on the former PSG player would be disastrous from a business point of view but it really does feel as though United need a refresh in midfield.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Casemiro has made great improvements this term but he is not getting any younger and if INEOS are planning to spend big in the future then it must be in a central area.

Players like Brighton superstar Carlos Baleba and Nottingham Forest’s Geordie midfielder, Elliot Anderson, have both been linked with a move. They would be fabulous signings too.

Yet, a ready-made solution could present itself at Carrington. In the form of 19-year-old Sekou Kone, United may well have already signed their dream replacement for Ugarte.

Kone arrived at Man United in the summer of 2024. He was not a marquee arrival, far from it. There was very little fanfare for a teenager who had signed in a £1m deal from Malian side Guidars FC.

An exciting midfield player, the youngster had attracted the attention of United scouts during Mali’s run to the semi-finals of the U17 World Cup in 2023. Since then, he has failed to earn any senior game time under Amorim but he looks like a mighty fine prospect.

Kone featured on 14 occasions for the U21s last season but his prospects of football in 2025/26 have so far been dampened by a fractured eye socket. He has played just one match in the opening exchanges of the ongoing campaign but he is now back in training and first-team training at that. Amorim has already shelved plans of a loan spell, such is the potential in this young midfield player.

So, what’s he all about? Well, a defensive midfielder by trade, he is “uber composed on the ball and so press resistant” in the words of Como scout, Ben Mattinson.

Mattinson continued: “He’s got a tight turn radius and rides challenges well when carrying the ball.” On that evidence, he certainly sounds more promising than Ugarte.

He possesses an exciting ball-winning prowess and has an enormous physical ceiling that Mattinson suggests “is something Manchester United need more of in order for Amorim’s man-to-man press to work effectively.”

On that evidence, it’s hardly a surprise that fellow scout, Antonio Mango, has explained that Kone has “the skillset to be a beast under Amorim.”

This is a player who doesn’t just look capable of ending Ugarte’s career at Old Trafford, but potentially also Casemiro’s.

Ashes hopefuls Weatherald, Harris, Bancroft, Renshaw not included as the squad is a look towards the 2027 Test tour of India, with Connolly, Murphy and Rocchiccioli included as spinners

Alex Malcolm07-Aug-2025

Sam Konstas’ bid to retain his Test place this summer will begin in India as he was named in the 14-man Australia A squad that will play India A in two red-ball four-day matches in Lucknow in September, albeit the squad has been selected with an eye towards Australia’s 2027 Test tour rather than the upcoming Ashes.Konstas was named alongside fellow Test opening candidate Nathan McSweeney and fellow teenager Oliver Peake in the squad. Promising Victoria opener Campbell Kellaway was also included among the batting group. Jake Weatherald, Jason Sangha and Kurtis Patterson, who all featured and performed well in the recent Australia A series against Sri Lanka A, were not included.Australian openers with previous Test experience, Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw, were also not included in the squad. Renshaw has been on two Test tours to India previously while Bancroft has previously toured India with Australia A including making 150 in an unofficial Test in Chennai in 2015 against an India A team that featured nine Indian Test players.Related

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It is highly unlikely that performances in India against India A in September will have any bearing on Ashes selection with the national selectors already on record saying that the first three Sheffield Shield rounds will be of most relevance. The squad has clearly been selected with a longer-term view of giving younger players experience in Indian conditions with Australia due to tour there for a five-match Test series in January-February of 2027, when the composition of Australia’s top six may look slightly different with Usman Khawaja very unlikely to still be playing by that point while Steven Smith turns 38 in June 2027.”The subcontinent provides many unique challenges and the opportunity to utilise different skills with bat and ball,” chairman of selectors George Bailey said.”We hope repeated experiences in these conditions will assist players in developing an effective method and understanding of their game for future sub-continent tours.”Test offspinner Todd Murphy was included in the squad having taken 14 wickets in four Tests in India in 2023, including a seven on Test debut in Nagpur. Fellow offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli will also get a chance to impress having been to the MRF Academy last year and played for Australia A previously. Both men missed the recent series against Sri Lanka A due to short-term stints in county cricket in England.Left-arm-spinning allrounder Cooper Connolly, who made his Test debut in Sri Lanka earlier this year, will get the chance to gain some valuable subcontinent experience. Seam-bowling allrounders Aaron Hardie, Liam Scott and Jack Edwards were all included with the latter set to play for Australia A for the first time.Cooper Connolly will gain further red-ball exposure on the subcontinent•Getty Images

CA contracted fast bowlers Lance Morris and Xavier Bartlett were picked as was the Shield’s leading wicket-taker in Fergus O’Neill. Josh Philippe was included as the sole wicketkeeper in the four-day squad.Connolly, Murphy, Hardie, Edwards and Scott will stay on for the three 50-over matches but Bartlett, Kellaway, Konstas, McSweeney, Morris, O’Neill, Peake, Philippe and Rocchiccioli will play in the four-day matches in Lucknow only before returning to Australia for the first Shield round that starts on October 4.”For many of these players we remain interested in the development of their short-form cricket as well, but balancing out priorities meant we wanted them back and available for the start of the Sheffield Shield season,” Bailey said.”This provides opportunities for Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Tanveer Sangha, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland and Callum Vidler who will play the one-day matches in Kanpur.”Fraser-McGurk was included after losing his place in Australia’s ODI squad and he could well get the chance to keep wicket for the first time in his List A career with Shaw the only other wicketkeeper named in the white-ball squad. Fraser-McGurk is being developed as a back-up wicketkeeper for the T20I team having worked on his keeping with Australia’s fielding/keeping coach Andre Borovec on recent tours.Captains have yet to be named but there are a host of options given three state captains in McSweeney, Edwards and Sutherland will tour while Hardie has also previously led Australia A in a first-class game in New Zealand and captained Perth Scorchers.Australia A four-day squadXavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Aaron Hardie, Campbell Kellaway, Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Oliver Peake, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Liam ScottAustralia A one-day squadCooper Connolly, Harry Dixon, Jack Edwards, Sam Elliott, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Mackenzie Harvey, Todd Murphy, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Lachie Shaw, Tom Straker, Will Sutherland, Callum Vidler