Will Rishad continue to ‘make captain’s job easy’?

Have Bangladesh found their sought-after leggie in Rishad Hossain?

Interestingly, in his limited stint with the national squad so far, the 21-year-old has received more attention for his batting abilities than his leg-spin expertise, having played three ODIs and nine T20Is since debuting against New Zealand in December last year.

Rishad found some purchase off the wicket in Monday's third and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Chattogram. While Sri Lanka skipper Kushal Mendis was his only victim, he made the most of it with the bat. Rishad's 18-ball 48-run blitz helped the Tigers chase down 235 from a tricky position, sealing the series in the process.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hosain Shanto, however, showed a guarded approach while he was praising the young star in the post-match briefing.

"First of all, his bowling is most important because we don't have a leg spinner. He has been bowling well since the New Zealand series and he also showed his improvement in his batting from that series. Still, he has a scope to improve. I am really happy," Shanto said.

"There is no need to be too excited with him at this moment because there are still a lot of areas he needs to improve," he added.

Rishad's latest innings came after a blistering 53-run knock against the same opponent in the third and final T20I encounter in Sylhet last week. In that game, he slammed seven sixes to shatter Jaker Ali's record for the most sixes hit by a Bangladeshi batter in the game's shortest format, leading many to believe that a leg-spinning all-rounder is in the making.

Former national selector Habibul Bashar also echoed the Bangladesh captain's sentiment. "He has got the ability to become a good bowling all-rounder but it's too early to predict anything because a journey for a leg-spinner is not that easy, especially in Bangladesh."

"I must thank our new captain and coach for showing courage in including a leg-spinner in the playing eleven. The team management deserves credit for giving him confidence because you know, he has hardly any domestic records to his name. Also, this guy hardly had any support from our local coaches.

"Definitely his batting came handier than his bowling but he also looked good as a bowler in these conditions. We must acknowledge one thing that he is not an orthodox leg-spinner like Shane Warne, rather he is like Anil Kumble. A bit of changes came in his action as per I know, which is fine, but it will backfire if we want to bring any major changes in his action," explained the former national skipper.

Bashar also said that Rishad's grooming will depend on how much patience the team management can show towards him.

"Rishad's future will not only depend on his hard work but also the patience of the team management. The team management must understand that he will not perform every day but he will be able to win matches for us if we give him enough confidence," said Bashar.

Shanto urged the concerned people in the domestic circuit to take care of Rishad.

"Naturally everybody gets a chance to the national team after playing in the domestic circuit but Rishad is now playing for the national team but doesn't get a chance in domestic cricket. The team management of the domestic teams must take care of him," said Shanto.

Bashar said that Rishad can be another addition of a handy all-rounder for the Tigers while Shanto remarked that "this type of player makes the captain's job easy".