How Bangladesh keep mismanaging their most exciting spinning talent

It was coming. It certainly was.

The dropping of leg-spinner Rishad Hossain from the series decider against New Zealand at Chattogram's Bir Shrestha Shahid Flight Lieutenant Motiur Rahman Cricket Stadium didn't come as a surprise, as the 23-year-old has been badly treated over the last two home series.

Anyone who follows Bangladesh cricket closely would suspect something of this sort would happen soon.

And it did on Thursday. Rishad, the only top-tier leg-spinning talent in the squad, was inexplicably left out of the side.

Only back in October against the West Indies at home, Rishad was the main spinner in the side as he grabbed a career-best 6 for 35 to win the match for his side. He backed that up with two more three-fers in the second and third matches to finish the series with 12 wickets.

After his series-winning bowling performance against the Windies, Rishad went to Australia to play the Big Bash League (BBL) for Hobart Hurricanes for the first time — a completely different condition for him. But the tall leggie finished the BBL with 15 wickets in 11 matches, joint highest for a spinner in the league.

Rishad, at that time, was at the height of his short career. But in the first match after an incredible two months at the top, Rishad played in the opening game of the three-match One Day International series against Pakistan and bowled only two overs. In the second match, he sent down 9.3 overs and grabbed 3 for 56. He didn't finish his quota in the third game either, delivering 7 overs for 1 for 56.

The other spinner in the XI, captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz, bowled his full 10 overs in every match of the series.

That pattern continued in the ODI series against New Zealand when Rishad was given only five overs in the second game after completing 10 overs in the first, where he took 2 for 44 — before being dropped from the side for the third match at Chattogram, on a wicket where leg spin is supposed to play a crucial role as it is mainly a batting-friendly deck.

Miraz, after the match on Thursday, was asked about the sudden snubbing of Rishad. "Rishad is definitely a very important player for our team, and he has bowled really well. If you look at the last five or six ODIs, he has performed strongly with the ball. We are trying to build a good team because we have major tournaments ahead, like the Asia Cup and the World Cup," he said.

"If we can give each player some opportunities, it will help boost their confidence. I think Tanvir (Islam) also did quite well in the last two series he played. However, he couldn't get into the side due to team combination. When a player returns after a long gap, the confidence isn't always the same," he added.

When Miraz's attention was drawn to the number of overs Rishad had bowled leading up to the series, he looked surprised.

"So in my view, if we can rotate players and give them chances, they will stay within the international cricket environment. That's the approach we've taken," Miraz replied.

"You see, one thing is certain — Rishad is a really great bowler and a very important one for our team. I've been using him in positions that are crucial for the team's needs. When the ball gets a bit softer, it's often more beneficial to bring Rishad into the attack, because with the new ball I might not have used him that much — but in the future, I might," he noted.

"Since he's been playing continuously, we keep thinking of him whenever a situation arises where we need a wicket or a breakthrough — Rishad often proves to be the right choice at those moments. So I've been using him in those kinds of momentum-changing situations quite a bit," he explained.

"And, you know, we usually have five bowlers. So sometimes what happens is, if the sixth, extra bowler bowls three or four overs, then one of the main bowlers might have to bowl seven or eight overs — that could be Rishad, or me, or Mustafizur (Rahman). Situations like that come up often. So I don't think it's a big issue. What matters most is performance — and he has definitely performed well," he concluded.