The rise of Rishad Hossain: From 'spinner hunt' in 2017 to Bangladesh's trump card

TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: Bangladesh cricket has always had a strong spin option. From Mohammad Rafique to Shakib Al Hasan, the nation has relied on their left-arm spinners to script some of its finest wins. Yet, one department has remained largely vacant: wrist spin. For years, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) searched for a leg-spinner who could provide the breakthroughs modern white-ball cricket so desperately demands. That search eventually unearthed a promising name -- Rishad Hossain.

Rishad’s journey began in 2017, when the BCB organised a nationwide “spinner hunt.” The aim was clear: to discover mystery spinners and wrist spinners hidden across the country’s cricketing landscape. From that initiative, a lanky teenager emerged. Just 16 or 17 at the time, and immediately caught attention with his potential. That boy was Rishad Hossain. Within a year, he was wearing national colours at the 2018 U19 World Cup, a sign of the faith selectors placed in his raw, but exciting, talent.

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Following that early exposure, Rishad’s development was carefully nurtured. He trained with the High-Performance unit, played for Bangladesh A, and gradually eased into the professional domestic circuit through the Dhaka Premier League and the National Cricket League. His rise, however, wasn’t simply due to outstanding early performances.


As his coach Sohel Islam candidly tells TimesofIndia.com, “I think the board’s initiative was more prominent in his career than his own performance. In this modern white-ball era, getting breakthroughs in the middle overs is very important. For this, ODI teams use mystery spinners or wrist spinners. Keeping that in mind, the initiatives were taken.”

Indeed, Rishad wasn’t an instant sensation.

In his early days, he looked like just another young bowler with limited impact. But what separated him from the rest was his determination. He worked relentlessly on his craft, gradually transforming into a bowler Bangladesh could count on, particularly in T20 cricket. “In the initial part of this journey, he was a very ordinary bowler. But his work ethic, determination, and learning capacity helped him to become today’s Rishad Hossain,” Sohel says.




Signature Style
Unlike many wrist spinners, Rishad isn’t known for extravagant turn. His strength lies elsewhere -- height, bounce, and control. His stock delivery, the traditional leg-spin, is his signature. But because he doesn’t get huge turn, he focuses on dip and topspin, extracting bounce from even flat surfaces. “As Rishad has the height, and he is not a big turner of the ball, that’s why he tries to dip the ball, and has the tendency to topspin in his body pattern,” Sohel explains.

That doesn’t mean he lacks variation. Over the years, he has added the wrong’un or googly, which he can bowl to both right and left-handers quite effectively. His challenge now is to increase the effectiveness of those variations by improving angles and disguises. But for now, his biggest strength remains landing his stock ball consistently in good areas.

The Training Method
Behind Rishad’s progress lies a training philosophy built on fundamentals. “The method is very simple — we drill the basics of leg-spin: proper wrist position, hip rotation, shoulder alignment, head position,” Sohel outlines. Every session begins with these fundamentals. Once they are intact, the focus shifts to nets, match scenarios, and opposition-specific strategies.

In T20 cricket, this preparation becomes crucial. Every ball can change momentum. So, the discussions often revolve around tactical awareness: what to bowl after conceding a single, how to respond to a big shot, and what a particular batter is trying to do. For Rishad, developing game sense has been as important as perfecting his action.

The Wicket Challenge
But being a leg-spinner in Bangladesh is not easy. The country’s pitches are notorious for being low and skiddy, not conducive for tall spinners who thrive on bounce. Rashid Khan, for instance, succeeds on such surfaces because of his fast, skiddy style. Rishad, however, bowls with more topspin, needing harder wickets for his deliveries to bite.

That mismatch presented its own struggles in his formative years. He often performed better overseas—on bouncy tracks in Australia or Pakistan—than at home. “Getting that type of wicket in Bangladesh is very difficult. So, he had struggles in his upbringing stages, as his type of wicket is unavailable in Bangladesh,” Sohel says. Yet, those very challenges have toughened him and broadened his adaptability.

Yuzvendra Chahal impact
Interestingly, Rishad doesn’t idolise any single bowler. He prefers learning from many. Conversations with his coach often touch on the success of leg-spinners like Adil Rashid or Yuzvendra Chahal in T20s. Rishad observes, analyses, and then asks, “What would you do in this situation?” That curiosity helps him sharpen his cricketing intelligence. “There are many players who have icons, but I didn’t notice any icon that he follows. Rather, he thinks by himself and tries to figure out how to become successful in different wickets of different countries as a leg spinner,” Sohel reflects.

Globe trotter
A newer dimension to Rishad’s journey has been franchise cricket. With Bangladeshi players historically getting limited overseas opportunities outside of Shakib Al Hasan, his entry into this world was both challenging and educational. Franchise cricket tested his adaptability, not just in terms of bowling on new pitches, but also in communicating with foreign teammates and coaches.

Like any professional, his mindset has been simple: prove his importance to the team and contribute to victories. “There is only one mindset,” Sohel says, quoting Rishad, “‘As a professional player, while playing, I have to contribute to the team’s winning.’ There are no other options to think outside of it.”

Still a Work in Progress
Today, Rishad is an important part of Bangladesh’s T20 setup. Yet, even his coach admits, “we still cannot fully trust him. He has many sectors to develop.”

Before Rishad, there were Wahidul Gani and later Jubair Hossain. Part-time leg-spinner Alok Kapali created history with Bangladesh’s first Test hat-trick. Yet, leg-spin remained the craft of outliers in the country.

For Bangladesh, Rishad represents more than just another bowler. He embodies years of investment, and hope that the nation could finally field a leg-spinner capable of changing matches in the middle overs. His story is still being written, but one thing is clear: from a teenager discovered in a nationwide hunt to a bowler growing on the international stage, Rishad Hossain is Bangladesh’s present and future.

Catch Lovlina Borgohain's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 5. Watch Here