Ever since Bangladesh played their inaugural Test 15 years ago, the Tigers have been unable to produce a specialist leg-spinner, apart from the unlucky youngster, Jubair Hossain Likhon. And even though Jubair is a current Test player, he is not taken seriously and can hardly be called a regular.
Be it the national side or even in the domestic circuit, there was, and still is, a lack of genuine leggies.
According to the previous list of contracted first-class cricketers drawn up by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, there were 105 players but among them, only two were leg-spinners; Noor Hossain Munna and Tanveer Haider. To make matters worse, Tanveer was generally termed a batting-allrounder, leaving Munna as the sole representative of the dying art.
A few players like Sabbir Rahman and Alok Kapali are known to bowl leggies every once in a while but none of them are considered key bowlers for their respective domestic sides.
It is widely suggested that the young and aspiring cricketers, playing in different age-level groups, hardly take up leg-spin as a serious option due to the difficulties that are associated with the craft.
Questions therefore, rise automatically as to whether the board is at all concerned to remedy the situation whereas the other Test-playing nations are placing a lot of importance on this art.
One such instance is that of Raihan Uddin Arafat, who has 31 first-class wickets to his name in 16 matches. However, very few paid any attention to those figures as Arafat had to struggle in order to find a team in longer-version cricket. His division, Chittagong, nearly pushed him towards obscurity due to the presence of an arsenal of left-arm spinners.
Arafat did feature for a few domestic sides in Old DOHS and Brothers Union but it is safe to say he was ignored for red-ball cricket; Bangladesh’s weakest format among all three.
Another leg-spinner in age-level cricket was the highly-rated Humayun Kabir Shaheen, who played in all the levels alongside Tigers Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim, maverick all-rounder Shakib al Hasan and dashing opening batsman Tamim Iqbal.
Whereas Mushfiq, Shakib and Tamim are now flying high with the Tigers as established cricketers, Shaheen was lost to the wilderness. The once-talented leggie is now looking for one last opportunity after being ignored for the domestic competitions in the last few years.
Shaheen, now 26, bagged 33 wickets in 10 first-class matches and also holds the record of scalping four wickets from 7.2 overs without conceding a single run against the Cricket Association of Bengal Under-16 team in India. This tie took place more than a decade ago and his skipper was a certain Mushfiq.
The man in question, Shaheen is of the opinion that being a leg-spinner these days is a curse. He is even contemplating quitting the sport he dearly loves.
“There was a time when I used to take wickets regularly and often played the leading role for my team in age-level cricket. And, it was a dream for me to play for the national team where most of them with whom I played with are now big stars of Bangladesh. On the other hand, I am nowhere,” a downtrodden Shaheen told Dhaka Tribune last Sunday.
“I think I did not get enough opportunities till now to prove my ability after returning from a ligament injury two years back. I did not even play a first-class game in the last seven years,” he said, dejection clearly showing in his face.
“Sometimes I feel, if I was a batsman or a left-arm spinner, things might have been different and I would have been able to continue playing cricket,” he added.
Bangladesh Cricket Board’s game development manager Nazmul Abedin Fahim knows all too well why the Tigers are failing in their quest to prepare a leg-spinner. Fahim, mentor of Shakib, Mushfiq and several other star cricketers, believes a lack of a role model is hampering Bangladesh’s chances of producing a leggie.
“I think we lack a role model for the leg-spinners as everyone wants to be Shakib or Tamim nowadays. Obviously, it’s a difficult art which needs proper guidance. The probable leggies also require a free license in order to master the art,” Fahim told Dhaka Tribune last Sunday.
“Although we did not have any spin-bowling camp in the recent past, but still, we have a plan to work with the spinners in the near future. And if possible, we may hunt for leg-spinners from all over the country and include them in the various age-level camps,” he concluded.
