‘It is important to realise the importance of leg-spin’

The impact of leg-spinners in modern-day cricket cannot be understated, with teams around the world tending to focus more on this difficult art of bowling.

From the early days, when the likes of BS Chandrasekhar, Bill O'Reilly, and Abdul Qadir would dominate, the legacy of leg-spin continued. Australian spin legend Shane Warne took the art to the next level alongside flag-bearers like Stuart MacGill, Anil Kumble and Mushtaq Ahmed.

In the modern day, the likes of Rashid Khan, Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid, Shadab Khan, Imran Tahir, Yuzvendra Chahal and others have added excitement and become trump cards given their ability to turn things around single-handedly.

Unfortunately, despite the reputation for producing left-arm spinners since earning Test status in 2000, Bangladesh have failed to produce a single quality leg-spinner.

Alok Kapali registered Bangladesh's maiden hattrick in Test cricket with his leg-spin, but was hardly considered a specialist leg-spinner in the domestic circuit.

A few names popped up from time to time, like Jubair Hossain Likhon. He showed great promise and even made his Test debut for the Tigers at a very early age, but eventually faded away due to lack of nurturing.

Aminul Islam Biplob, a batsman who turned into a specialist leg-spinner is among the latest casualties. Despite a decent T20I debut in 2019, the 22-year-old, nowadays struggles like Likhon to even make the playing eleven in the domestic circuit.

However, according to prominent coach Wahidul Gani, a former national spinner, there is no shortage of leg-spinners in Bangladesh in age-level cricket. He also believes it is important to put more emphasis into setting up a proper structure.

"We do have leg spinners in age-level but they don't get the opportunity to play. It is important to realise the importance of leg-spin. In club cricket, teams want to win games which is the reason they don't want to risk having a leg-spinner in the side because they can be expensive at times," Wahidul told The Daily Star.

"But the fact is that leg-spinners can also give you wickets because they are attacking bowlers. It's important for teams to have a back-up in the bowling unit to accommodate a leg-spinner. If we can have special camps for leg-spinners like we have had for the pace-bowling unit, it will certainly help us find more leg spinners."

It is widely suggested that aspiring cricketers in different age-level groups are deterred from taking up leg-spin as a serious option due to the difficulties and lack of assurances associated with the craft.

"You need to realise that there are different types of bowlers for specific formats. India's Chahal only plays the T20 format because he bowls a bit flatter and quicker. In Tests you need someone who gives more air to the ball. So we need to pick those talents and make them fit for the specific role.

"I have seen youngsters interested in becoming leg-spinners because they also know there the country needs leg-spinners. We need someone like Imran Khan, who had fought with selectors to include Abdul Qadir in the team. And we all know what he did after that."

* Jubair Hossain Likhon is the only specialist leg-spinner who has represented Bangladesh across three formats.

* Mentionable leg-spinning all-rounders include Mohammad Ashraful, Alok Kapali and Sabbir Rahman.

* At the moment, Aminul Islam Biplob is the only specialist leg-spinner in the national set-up.

* There is no leg-spinner among the 24 cricketers with central contracts from the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

* When asked if he felt it was fair to force teams to pick a leg-spinner in the playing eleven, national selector Abdur Razzak, a notable left-arm spinner in his day, responded: "Yes, there were instructions to have leg spinners in the side. But if you don't have a quality leg-spinner, you cannot push the team and that's why we don't see them playing in the BPL. We tried a few leg-spinners in the national team even after average performances. But when it comes to franchise cricket, teams will not pick a player for the sake of providing opportunities. When we picked Jubair Hossain Likhon, he did well in Tests but suddenly has not performed since then. Consequently, he is out of the team. Aminul Islam Biplob also did reasonably well in India but since then has been unable to perform in domestic leagues. Obviously, it's good to have leg spinners in the side because it adds variety but the national team is not a platform to provide opportunities. If they are not able to perform in domestic leagues, how can they play international cricket?"