Why keep waiting?

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.

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'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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"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.

Quite a few aspects like planning, execution, and process – things that Bangladesh players resort to while stating their expectations ahead of a game -- came through in their thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas yesterday. 

While the bowlers largely took the stage in an impressive display to restrict the Lankans to 124, the batting unit, despite several hiccups, eventually stumbled over the finish line with an over to spare.

The Tigers deservedly have had to endure copious amounts of criticisms in their build-up to their tournament opener but appeared to have brushed it all aside come game time and produced a mighty impressive display, particularly while fielding in the first innings.

A switch seemed to have suddenly turned the Tigers on as they were aggressive in their approach while fielding and rarely put a foot wrong as a unit in the lion hunt in Dallas. Najmul Hossain Shanto's troops were buzzing like bees from the onset and looked like a team hell-bent on pulling off a result in their favour.

Several Bangladesh players played out of their skin and the accumulation of all these individual performances led the Tigers to the win, yet again proving the noiton that the men in red and green pull of memorable wins when they play as a unit.   

Pacers sizzle

Bangladesh initially struggled to keep a lid on things despite getting the ball to beat the Lankan batters on several occasions. The Tigers conceded nine fours and a six as the Lankans raced off to 53 for two at the end of the Powerplay, with opener Pathum Nissanka in full groove. But Mustafizur Rahman used his expertise to great effect to dismiss the right-handed opener for a 28-ball 47 with a delivery angled across. That particular wicket pulled things back for the Tigers as it significantly slowed down the rate of scoring. Before that, he got the better off Kamindu Mendis in the Powerplay after Taskin Ahmed had sent back Kusal Mendis in the third over.

The Fizz scalped another one at the death to cap off an impressive evening as he returned three for 17.

His pace partners Taskin and Tanzim Hasan Sakib also shone in different phases of play, with the former picking up two for 25 while Sakib showed masterful execution at the death, nailing his yorkers as well as slowers to further merit his inclusion in the eleven.

X-factor Rishad

One of the aspects that stood out was the faith shown in leg-spinner Rishad Hossain by the team management as well as the captain. He bowled one over in the first 10 and three in the next, including an over in the last five. The leggie is not known for turning the ball, but on the night, managed to give it a rip more than anyone else. The meters displayed that he extracted 3.6 degrees of turn -- the most in that regard in the tournament so far. The 21-year-old played to his strengths, relying on drift and accuracy and when he had the addition of the ability to turn the ball, Rishad turned the match on its head by dismissing Charith Asalanka and Wanindu

Hasaranga in the same over, leaving the Lankans five down for 103 after 15. In his final over, the 17th of the innings, he bowled a ripper to outfox Dhananjaya de Silva.

Liton shows composure, and Hridoy unleashes himself

A dismal Powerplay may have sent jitters in the Tigers' camp but Liton Das stood tall. His tally, a 38-ball 36, might not reflect the gravity of the knock but it demands appreciation in the context of the game. The right-handed batter tackled Sri Lanka's Pandora's box with graceful ease and held up one end expertly in the chase in a 63-run stand with Towhid Hridoy, who smacked a 20-ball 40. Hridoy conjured up a tornado in the 12th over against Hasaranga as he powered three maximums to potentially seal the match for the Tigers as they required 34 off the last 48 balls. However, he left the job undone, perishing in the same over after which the match swung like a pendulum and turned into a thriller.

Mahmudullah at it again

With the match still in the balance, Mahmudullah was gifted a juicy full toss by Dasun Shanaka in the penultimate over and the veteran batter responded promptly. He had to weather through a turbulent few overs, watching partners at the other end throw it away, and also rode his luck in a run-out situation but held his nerve and got the job done in the end.

After a fair bit of dillydallying on the issue the Bangladesh team management finally confirmed that opener Tamim Iqbal has been officially ruled out of the ongoing Asia Cup.

Tamim suffered a fractured left wrist during Saturday's opening match against Sri Lanka on Dubai, and although he heroically came out at number 11 and played a delivery one-handed to allow Bangladesh's innings to continue, it was never really in any doubt that his participation would end there.

Team manager Khaled Mahmud finally confirmed on Monday afternoon that he was indeed ruled out after Tamim had visited a doctor earlier in the day at Al Zahra hospital.

"I can say now that Tamim has been ruled out of the Asia Cup," Mahmud told The Daily Star. "We cannot say yet for how long he will be out. His reports will be sent to a specialist and then we can tell you."