‘Never afraid’ Rishad wins battle of leg spinners on the big stage

The first ball that Rishad Hossain bowled on his World Cup debut went for four. Even after going through the replays multiple times, it wasn't sure if Pathum Nissanka was in complete control of the shot or not. For Bangladesh fans, it was an edge. For the Lankan counterparts, it was guided nicely. Either way, it was a boundary and not the start Rishad wanted.

The first leg spinner from Bangladesh to play a World Cup match, Rishad was in an uncharted territory and had to repay the faith put in him by head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and the selectors.

Rishad was playing ahead of Mahedi Hasan who has excellent numbers as a T20I bowler for Bangladesh. A lot was expected from him and there was little room for error.

That boundary off Nissanka's bat remained the only four that Rishad conceded. Charith Asalanka hit him for a six in his second over but he exacted revenge in his next over by forcing the former to take on the big side and lose his wicket.

The next ball was probably the most memorable delivery bowled by Rishad in his entire career. It pitched around leg stump and took the outside edge of the bat of Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga and Soumya Sarkar did the rest at slip.

The third wicket came as a result of a beautiful leg-break as Dhananjaya de Silva was stumped. 

There was a subplot in the battle between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. On one side, there was a T20 superstar in Hasaranga and on the other, there was a rookie leg spinner playing his first World Cup game.

Hasaranga walked out to bat at a time when Sri Lanka needed someone to go hard. Rishad had 1.5 overs left and Hasaranga, well-known as a spin-hitter, arrived in the middle.

The duo had a bit of a history between them. In the white-ball series earlier this year, Hasaranga was belted for 59 runs off just 21 balls in two innings by Rishad. In an ODI, Rishad took 24 off an over by Hasaranga, the most by anyone against the Sri Lankan ace.

Hasaranga had a score to settle. But Rishad had other ideas. He finished with figures of three for 22 and walked away with prized scalps of Asalanka, Hasaranga and de Silva.

It was Hasaranga's turn now to inflict damage on Bangladesh. The last time the two teams met in a T20 World Cup game, Mushfiqur Rahim had the better of the Sri Lanka skipper.

But this time, Bangladesh had no Mushfiqur and they were in a spot of bother after losing three early wickets. 

Towhid Hridoy and Litton Das kept the scoreboard ticking but there were still a lot of nerves. Hridoy then smashed Hasaranga for three sixes on the bounce in the 12th over. Hridoy got out in the same over but by the time it ended, Bangladesh needed just 33 off eight overs.

It was a game-breaking moment and although Hasaranga got two wickets, it was Hridoy's onslaught that took the game away from Sri Lanka and also announced Rishad as the winner of the battle of leg spinners.

Often we say that morning shows the day but for Rishad, it was not so in his maiden World Cup game. The youngster started off by getting hit for a four but came back very strongly to break the back of Sri Lanka's innings. He said it's the courage that helped him.

"I am never scared while bowling," Rishad said. "I tried to pick up wickets whenever I came to bowl and change the game."

Rishad, indeed, was the game-changer and hence, won the Player of the Match award.

"When Rishad came to bowl his third over, Sri Lanka had to go after him and that's where I believe he bowled very cleverly. He then picked up two wickets and changed the course of the game," former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal told ESPNCricinfo after the match. 

"A lot of credit has to go to the selectors who picked him. His domestic performance was never up to the mark but they took that gamble and now it is paying off," he added.

Pakistan's Rameez Raja and Waqar Younis, on air for the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka game, were all praises for Rishad and were quite surprised to see the amount of turn he extracted from the pitch. 

Rishad played just a handful of matches in Bangladesh's premier T20 competition earlier this year but was retained in the national team because of Hathurusingha's adamance to play a wrist spinner. 

Teams in Bangladesh's domestic scene tend to avoid fielding leg spinners because of their volatile nature of bowling. 

Probably one of the main reasons why Bangladesh never had a regular leg spinner before was the absence of a pioneer or a path-breaker and Rishad Hossain can very well be the man to show the way.