Rishad’s Distinction with a Fifty-Wicket Milestone

Bangladesh made a brilliant start to the Asia Cup with a commanding seven-wicket win over Hong Kong. Skipper Litton Das led from the front with the bat, scoring 59 off 39 balls, reaching multiple milestones and breaking a few records along the way. Alongside Litton, young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain also shone with the ball. His excellent performance saw him touch the milestone of 50 wickets in international T20 cricket.

In the 19th over of Hong Kong’s innings, he struck twice in two balls to register his long-awaited 50th wicket. While the number 50 may not sound huge, for a bowler it is often a prized achievement. Batters regularly get opportunities to score fifties, but for bowlers, such milestones are harder to come by. And if the bowler is a leg-spinner, then the feat is even more remarkable in Bangladesh’s context. Historically, leg-spinners have rarely been trusted, seldom get opportunities in domestic cricket, and even when they do make it to the national team, their chances are usually short-lived.

Take, for example, Zubair Hossain Likhon—an immensely talented leg-spinner who impressed on his Test debut but couldn’t sustain his place thereafter, and later faded away from domestic cricket as well. Another case was Tanbir Haider Khan, who faced suspension right after his international debut against New Zealand and never managed a proper comeback, though he still plays domestic cricket.

Rishad Hossain has proven to be the exception. Making his T20I debut against Ireland in Chattogram in 2023, he has since gone on to play 43 matches, picking up 50 wickets in 41 innings. Against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup, his very first game of the tournament, he took two wickets to reach the milestone.

In the 19th over, he dismissed Hong Kong’s top scorer Nizakat Khan (42) off the fifth ball, before trapping Kinchit Shah lbw with the final delivery of the over to complete his 50th T20I wicket. His best bowling figure so far remains 3/18.

With this achievement, Rishad has now climbed to sixth on Bangladesh’s all-time T20I wicket-takers list. At the top sits Shakib Al Hasan (149 wickets in 129 matches), followed by Mustafizur Rahman (142 in 114), Taskin Ahmed (96 in 77 innings), Shoriful Islam (58 in 50), and Sheikh Mahedi Hasan (57 in 62).

Outside T20Is, Rishad has played nine ODIs, claiming eight wickets.

He has also cemented his place in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), while making appearances in global franchise tournaments like the PSL, Global T20, and Big Bash League.

A member of Bangladesh’s U-19 World Cup–winning squad, Rishad earned praise from his captain Litton Das after the match, “In the last few years, our pace attack has done really well. We were looking for a leg-spinner, and Rishad has been performing consistently for Bangladesh over the past two to three years.”

In a cricketing culture where leg-spin has nearly become a lost art, Rishad Hossain represents a rare spark of promise for Bangladesh.