Leg spinner Rishad Hossain impressed Bangladesh’s captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who acknowledged that he was looking for more chances for the young player in the domestic cricket finishing school to hone his skills for the professional game. The 21-year-old was instrumental in Bangladesh’s victory over Bangladesh in the second Twenty20 International, which levelled the series. He restricted the opposition to only 21 runs in his three overs.
In the first over of the series, Rishad was another bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre bowling effort. His four overs cost just 32 runs and gave Bangladesh the crucial wicket of Kusal Mendis. In the T20 wicket cauldron, he showed remarkable composure despite being pounded for eighteen runs in his preceding over.
After giving Rishad his debut against Ireland in March 2023, the Bangladeshi team management has continued to have faith in him. Shanto’s choice to support the young player after being struck in an over was evidence of that faith, as the legspinner is a rare talent in the nation’s cricket.
Despite having a strong start to his international career, Rishad was just recently deemed unable to be a regular member of the Comilla Victorians playing XI. Only four games were played by Rishad in a tournament when his team advanced to the championship.
“It is unfortunate that the [domestic] teams don’t play him and I don’t know why they don’t him play,” Shanto said to reporters in Sylhet following the second game. “I think it is difficult for him [to prepare] because he doesn’t get a lot of games in domestic cricket.” “However, in all of his international cricket matches, he has bowled incredibly well against strong batting opponents in all weather conditions.
“He has prepared himself well, and although it is challenging for him, he attempts to carry out the strategy that we provide him. It will be simpler for him to succeed in international cricket if he is given more opportunities in domestic cricket. He can constantly bowl in one place and has really improved. If he can maintain this, he may bowl much better in the days to come. His length is also good.
Shanto was relieved after the game on Wednesday in a few different ways. Personally, it was the start of his run-making comeback following a lacklustre performance in the BPL, where he scored just 175 runs at a strike-rate of 93.58 and an average of 14.58 from 12 games.
Bangladesh’s new hitting coach David Hemp expressed his lack of concern over Shanto’s decline in form prior to the T20I series against Sri Lanka. However, he was observed closely collaborating with the captain before Shanto’s match-winning 53 off 38 balls on Wednesday, his first half-century score after 11 innings.
“I was working with my batting [ahead of the game with Hemp] but I don’t want to say on what I was working, because it is a technical matter,” he stated. “The outcome achieved today is not a direct result of the effort made today. I’ve been trying to improve something [with my batting] for a while, but I need to do it even better.
“Getting a 50 is not significant. The runs’ effectiveness for the team is more crucial. I’m glad I was able to remain till the very end, and I’ll attempt to do it again in the future,” he remarked.
Shanto’s Bangladesh are trying to secure the T20I series and may do it by fielding the same lineup for the third game in a row after levelling the score with a commanding eight-wicket victory. The captain emphasised the significance of a finalised lineup.
It’s critical to maintain trust in the XI. In the first game, we performed admirably, but in the last over, we lost. We didn’t really need anything, and I feel good about the team since everyone is working hard for the club. The coaching staff didn’t consider switching up the starting lineup because it worked for us, he added.
We are thinking clearly and we made a strong recovery. We are optimistic that we will have a successful outcome if we can come up with smart ideas and carry them out in the middle of the game, the speaker said.
