Rishad Hossain last year had secured clearance to participate in Australia's Big Bash League, but his tight schedule, balancing national team duties and Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) commitments, prevented him from taking up the opportunity. Despite his potential, Rishad has only featured in three of Fortune Barishal's six matches so far this season.

Rishad's Barishal teammate Dawid Malan, appearing in his fifth BPL, knows a thing or two about being benched, as the former England batter has played in only one game this edition. During a press conference yesterday, Malan gave his views on playing in foreign leagues and on Rishad.

"We have a really big squad. Feels like we've got fifty players, and when you have so many players, it's tough to get a lot of them in," Malan said about his lack of appearances.

"You don't want to sign up for a tournament and then sit on the bench when you are competing with others. From that point of view, it's a bit frustrating. I guess that's the challenge for Bangladesh. If you want to attract the best players, they don't want to be sitting on the bench," he added.

A lot of Malan's early experience in the subcontinent was gathered in Bangladesh's Dhaka Premier League and BPL. He argued that Rishad should be playing in other leagues as much as possible.

"He [Rishad] is a hell of a talent, tall, turns the ball both ways, and has got a lot of skills. He can bat as well, which is a massive bonus.

"I guess the challenge is to get him to play as much as you can. The more competitions he can play, the more his development is going to progress. Same as me being able to play in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Big Bash. It develops your game in different conditions against different batters. Your bank of knowledge gets picked up. He should be encouraged that, when he is not playing in Bangladesh, he plays in every single league possible, because it's the only way to keep improving."