Bangladeshi bowlers making waves while batters overlooked

Three Bangladesh national team players are currently plying their trade across two franchise leagues, with one thing in common -- they are all specialist bowlers.

Leg-spinner Rishad Hossain is making a solid impression in his debut season in Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) for Hobart Hurricanes, and in the UAE, pacers Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed are plying their trade in the ILT20 for Dubai Capitals and Sharjah Warriorz, respectively.

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is no longer part of the national team setup, is also playing in the ILT20 for MI Emirates. But with his batting capabilities greatly diminished, the 38-year-old is primarily playing as a bowler for his team.

Bangladeshi players have never really been sought-after commodities in franchise cricket. Other than Shakib and Mustafizur, others have hardly attracted interest from franchises in top leagues.

However, the presence of three Bangladeshi players in different leagues at the same time hints at a positive shift in this regard -- at least for the bowlers.

Their performances have also been encouraging. Rishad, who earlier this year played for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League, has claimed three wickets in three appearances so far in the BBL at an economy rate of 7.20.

Taskin has bagged six wickets in four matches for the Warriorz till Sunday, while Mustafizur is second in the wicket-taker's list with 14 scalps in seven innings.

On Sunday, Mustafizur bagged the player-of-the-match award for figures of 3-34 against Gulf Giants, and on the same day, Shakib also won it after returning 1-14 with the ball and scoring an unbeaten 17 off 25 balls against Desert Vipers in a low-scoring affair.

Even teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) -- the biggest franchise league in the world -- had shown interest in Bangladeshi bowlers.

In order to get short-listed in the final auction list in the IPL, players who had registered must be named in the wish list of at least one of the teams. A total of seven Bangladeshis were in the final shortlist of the recent IPL mini-auction, and all of them were specialist bowlers.

Mustafizur was the only one to get a team, however, as he went to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) after a bidding war for a whopping INR 9.20 crore.

The increased interest for Bangladeshi bowlers in the franchise world and the lack of it for the batters is not just a coincidence but an accurate reflection of the nation's current cricketing state.

In recent times, Bangladesh's batting has looked increasingly volatile, with little to no solidity at any position. Meanwhile, in the bowling end, even though limitations exist, performances have been somewhat consistent.

This tendency did not go unnoticed by franchise sides, who regularly scour through the world of cricket, from top Test-playing nations to the backwaters of the game at the Associates level, from the international arena to unprofessional local cricket, in search of talented players who can give them the edge.

In franchise cricket, national labels mean little as skills triumph over all else, so getting opportunities in top leagues for a player is proof of quality in the shortest format.

For Bangladesh cricket, the surge in franchise opportunities for bowlers serves as recognition for the consistent bowling unit, and for the batters, it's a reminder that the batting lineup needs urgent consolidation to match global standards.