[Watch] Mushy giving an earful to Rubel Hossain

Towhid Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim shined on their return to competitive cricket after injury but failed to get Rajshahi Division over the line against Chattogram Division in the fifth round match of the ongoing National Cricket League T20 at the Sylhet Outer Stadium today.

Both Hridoy and Mushfiqur were sidelined due to injuries they suffered in Bangladesh's Afghanistan series last month. In their comeback innings, Hridoy struck 69 off 50 balls while Mushfiqur made a 31-ball 46 and together they added 102 runs for the fourth wicket for Rajshahi while pursuing a massive target of 199.

However, Mushfiqur and Hridoy departed in between six deliveries as Rajshahi lost their momentum in the run chase and finished on 194-7, suffering a four-run defeat.

Earlier, fifties from Irfan Shukkur (54) and Mominul Haque (52) helped Chattogram post 198-7 in their 20 overs after being sent into bat first.

Earlier at the same venue, Rangpur Division became the first team to confirm a playoff berth after beating Barishal Division by seven wickets.

Rangpur pacer Alauddin Babu was the wrecker-in-chief as he finished with 4-9 to help bowl out Barishal for just 108 runs in 19.2 overs.

Later, Rangpur opener Chowdhury Rizwan made a well compiled 53 off 44 balls to confirm his side's fifth successive victory with 13 balls to spare.

Meanwhile, at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium, Anamul Haque Bijoy's unbeaten 101 off 67 balls helped Khulna Division clinch a 21-run win over Dhaka Division.

It was the second hundred in this year's NCL T20 after Sylhet's Jishan Alam struck the maiden hundred during the opening game of the competition.

In the day's other game at the same venue, Sylhet's Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby's heroic unbeaten 82 off 39 balls went in vain as they suffered a narrow one-run defeat to Dhaka Metro, who also confirmed their playoff berth with five successive wins after today's victory.

Marginal calls, full tosses not being put away or the general inconsistency of Bangladesh top-order were all cause for concern in Bangladesh's loss to South Africa in New York in a hard-fought contest on Monday. But the situation would not have gotten so desperate had Bangladesh's key player Shakib Al Hasan left a mark on the game coming in at number four in what was another crucial T20 World Cup game for the Tigers. 

Shakib's stay at the crease lasted just four deliveries before he was holed out at mid-wicket, unable to connect a pull shot against Anrich Nortje. Shakib's soft dismissal saw South Africa back in the hunt.

Naturally, following the game there was scathing criticism regarding Shakib's performances.

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Shakib should feel ashamed and retire from T20Is: Sehwag

Shakib's last fifty in the format came before the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, during the tri-nation series in New Zealand also involving Pakistan. He has not enjoyed the best of circumstances leading up to this edition. Bar a match-winning bowling performance against Zimbabwe recently, his all-around performances against both Zimbabwe and then in the three-match T20I series against USA in Texas have been missing.

His troubles with the bat have been evident in the two World Cup matches so far. If it was expected that he would take control of the South Africa game, Shakib failed to live up to expectations. Now if Bangladesh are to advance to the next round and trouble opponents in the Super Eight, Shakib's contribution would be crucial.

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Tamim defends Shakib’s place in playing XI

"If he wants to play in front of Towhid Hridoy in the middle order, he has to play with a cooler head and take responsibility. We can see that these are not 200-run wickets, so it becomes easier for an experienced player like Shakib," his mentor Nazmul Abedeen Fahim told The Daily Star.

"If he can control the game, it will be better for everyone since the top-order is not doing well. Of course, you can't match expectations all the time, but you have to do it on and off," added the veteran coach and analyst.

Shakib's bowling has perhaps been a bigger concern. He was Bangladesh's most expensive bowler against Sri Lanka and bowled just one over against the Proteas, the first time in his career that it happened. It also upsets Bangladesh's bowling plan, especially with spin likely to be decisive in the West Indies.

"He has a very important role because there are only two specialist spinners in the side. He has to bowl in Powerplay and if he can't fulfil that, Bangladesh's bowling strategy suffers. At times it's important for spinners to bowl in Powerplay and then also key in middle overs. If he can't bowl, we have to go to Mahmudullah but you can't always expect him to perform even as he [Mahmudullah] did excellently against South Africa," Fahim said about Shakib's bowling.

Shakib now has a chance to make it count on surfaces offered in West Indies and gain momentum against lower-ranked opponents in Netherlands and Nepal.
Fahim expects Shakib -- the leading wicket-taker in the tournament's history but is yet to get a wicket in this edition -- to get more turn.

"Given the immediate oppositions [Netherlands], it should make him comfortable. I am hoping he would do better there since you can't just perform badly all of a sudden. There should not be this drop," he added.

Even as Bangladesh could cover for Shakib with the ball, the top-order troubles mean Shakib -- possessing a wealth of experience in the competition as the only two players alongside India's Rohit Sharma to have played in all editions -- will have to make his experience count and shelter the rest.

Bangladesh are not accustomed to seeing what leg-spinner Rishad Hossain is dishing out in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

One cannot only be spellbound by the 21-year-old's game-changing wizardry but must also be charmed by his congruity with orthodoxy in his craft, especially at a time when being orthodox is deemed as the doom for most spinners, particularly in the 20-over format.

In that quest to further put sheen on his limited skillset and solidify his stature as a leg-break bowler, Rishad seemed to have found the missing link in his arsenal – the ability to get his leg-breaks to turn.

With this addition, at least in the first three matches of the T20 World Cup, he has become a real trump card for the Tigers and ardent fans of the country's cricket have tasted a proper serving of what a leg-spinner brings to the table.

Rishad stamped his importance in the side as a difference-maker with his latest exploits against the Netherlands -- a crucial tie in Bangladesh's path to the Super Eights.

The task at hand for the Netherlands in the game after the 14th over was to get 56 runs off 36 deliveries in pursuit of Bangladesh's 159-run total, with the score at three down for 104.

The Dutch had skipper Scott Edwards and Sybrand Engelbrecht well-set in the middle, having put together a 42-run stand and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto brought on Rishad to personify the role of a leggie. Rishad went for 26 runs in 2.3 overs before cracking the game open for his side with two wickets in his next three balls.

He tossed one that turned away sharply from Engelbrecht and the batter could not help himself which led to his dismissal. A ball later, he looped one in that drifted towards Bas de Leede and to his surprise, turned away sharply. The right-handed batter was lured into the shot and lost track of his back leg as Liton Das whipped off the bails in a flash.

He came back to the bowl the 18th and picked another wicket, finishing with three for 33, to cap off a memorable day for Bangladesh which will be remembered for Rishad's game-changing acumen. 

The 21-year-old had shown what he's made off earlier in the tournament as well, when he turned the match on its head against Sri Lanka by picking up two in an over in contrasting styles.

The first was the typical leg-spinner's wicket where Charith Asalanka fell by trying to take Rishad on and the way he took the next wicket was nothing less than a dream sight for fans of Bangladesh cricket as he bowled a ripper that turned away from leg-stump, took the outside edge of Wanindu Hasaranga's bat and found its way into the hands of first slip.

The key component that has stood out is Rishad's ability to get his leg-breaks to turn. Before coming into this World Cup, fans and experts alike had come to terms with his limitation in getting the ball to turn. 

Rishad's strength lies in his accuracy, the elevation from which he releases the ball, the ability to extract bounce and a natural drift. But right from the onset of this tournament, he has, almost magically, added the ability to turn the ball.

Against Sri Lanka, Rishad caught everyone's attention when he registered an average turn of 3.6 degrees, which at that point was the most by any spinner in the tournament.

Many, including his mentor Sohel Islam, have credited the type of wickets in the USA for the turn.

"The turn is not an issue. From what I've seen, it's his accuracy. Turn depends on the surface. If the surface is sticky then turn will be more and if it is flat, turn will be less. The main thing is whether he is being able to get bounce and drop the ball," Sohel told The Daily Star.

But getting this amount of turn cannot only be due to the surface. It might be small tweaks he made under the supervision of Mushtaq Ahmed who himself was a legendary leg-spinner.

Whatever the reason behind Rishad's new found turn, Bangladesh are reaping the benefits of it. The fans are witnessing something they had never seen before in the Bangladesh national team. They've had to be in awe of leg-spin legends of other nations but are beginning to see samples of leg-spin artistry from one of their own.