Rolls-Royce Rishad
Making his debut on the big stage, Rishad picked up three wickets giving away only 22 runs from his four overs against Sri Lanka. And he almost created history as he was on the verge of claiming a hattrick with two wickets in two deliveries in the 15th over.
Leg spin has become a necessity in modern-day cricket, especially in the shorter format of the game. Almost all the top teams in the world currently have a proven leg spinner up in their sleeves. But for Bangladesh, it's been a luxury, to include and give a proper chance to a leg spinner. Or a liability, one could say.
Remember Jubair Hossain Likhon? He burst onto the scene back in 2014-15 thanks to Chandika Hathurasingha who wanted the leg spinner for his Bangladesh side during his first stint. Jubair had a few fine outings with his leg spin before fading away soon after.
There was another leg spinner in Aminul Islam in 2019 but he also had the same fate as Jubair. Both of those leg spinners didn't get enough chances in the national team or domestic cricket, eventually fading away for good.
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Rishad Hossain could have gone on a similar path. But he was given enough chances by the team management this time and became the first leg spinner from Bangladesh to play in a T20 World Cup. He paid off with the best possible outcome with a man-of-the-match performance against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Making his debut on the big stage, Rishad picked up three wickets giving away only 22 runs from his four overs against Sri Lanka. And he almost created history as he was on the verge of claiming a hattrick with two wickets in two deliveries in the 15th over.
His delivery to dismiss the Lankan skipper Wanindu Hasaranga in the 15th over will live rent-free in Bangladesh cricket fans' heads for a long time.
It was a classic leg break which drifted and spun in front of the middle and leg, turned Hasaranga into an S and got a healthy outside edge straight to Soumya Sarkar at slip.
Even his third wicket which saw Dhananjaya de Silva walking back to the pavilion in the 17th over was also another example of beautiful leg spin.
Rishad teased Dhananjaya with a floaty leg break outside off and drew him out of the crease in an attempt to force a big shot through the off-side. The batter was done in the flight and couldn't drag his feet back in time and Litton Das did the rest behind the stumps.
Classic leg spinner's wickets. Rolls-Royce, one could say.
Rishad's two wickets in two balls in the 15th proved to be a game-changer and the skipper Shanto was all praise for the young leg-spinner in his post-match press conference.
"I always have faith in him because he is a wicket-taking bowler. We all know that it's not easy to play a leg-spinner. There can be two or one boundary, but there is always a possibility of taking a wicket," Shanto said regarding Rishad.
"And in his case, I haven't seen left-hand or right-hand matters a lot for him. So, as a captain, I wanted him to take out one or two wickets, which he did perfectly," he added.
Rishad had a huge chance to finish the game with the bat as well. Bangladesh needed 16 runs to win from 22 balls when he came on to bat. And with his ability to hit the ball out of the park, he could have well and truly stolen the show. But it was not to be.
He was bowled for 1 off 3 balls trying to play a rash shot against Nuwan Thushara to put the Tigers in some sort of trouble in a tricky 125-run chase. But Mahmudullah kept his calm and eventually guided Bangladesh home.
Rishad truly rose to the occasion when the Tigers needed him the most in a crunch Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka clash. Going forward in the T20 World Cup or even beyond that, he will need to do the same job again and again.
