Rishad doing well is a big achievement for Bangladesh: Hannas Sarkar

Traditional outfit Abahani Limited's head coach Hannan Sarkar believes Bangladesh's leg spinner Rishad Hossain's brilliant performance in PSL is a big achievement for Bangladesh.

Rishad Hossain has made a remarkable debut in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), taking 3 wickets for 31 runs against Quetta Gladiators and another 3 for 26 against Karachi Kings. With 6 wickets in two matches, he currently tops the PSL wicket-takers list.

"I'm really happy. It's not just about Rishad's performance-whenever any of our local players do well in franchise leagues, it benefits us in the long run. You'll notice that after Shakib and Mustafizur performed well in the IPL, franchises started considering other Bangladeshi players too. Similarly, Rishad doing well is a big achievement for Bangladesh cricket. I'm confident that this will increase trust in Bangladeshi players." Hannan said. Rishad previously caught attention in the 2024 T20 World Cup, taking 14 wickets for Bangladesh. Although he was selected for Canada's Global T20 and Zimbabwe's Zim-Afro T10 League, he couldn't participate due to visa and workload issues. 

Hobart Hurricanes also picked him in the Big Bash League-the first Bangladeshi drafted-but had to withdraw due to schedule conflicts with the BPL. Now, with a strong start in PSL, Rishad has finally fulfilled his dream of playing in an overseas franchise league. Fans and experts believe continued performances like this could open more doors for Bangladeshi players globally. As of now, Rishad shares the top wicket-taker spot with Abrar, but leads due to better economy and average. Lahore's next match is on April 22 against Multan Sultans.

Earlier, Lahore Qalandars delivered a dominant all-round performance to defeat Karachi Kings by 65 runs in a high-stakes clash of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 10 at the National Bank Stadium on Tuesday.

This win ended Qalandars' five-match losing streak against the Kings.

After choosing to bat first, the Qalandars posted an impressive total of 201/6 in their 20 overs. Fakhar Zaman and Daryl Mitchell were the stars with the bat, scoring 76 and 75 runs respectively. The pair built a strong 125-run partnership after the team lost two early wickets.

Hasan Ali was the standout bowler for Karachi, taking four wickets for just 28 runs, including the key dismissals of Fakhar, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Naeem, and Sam Billings. Abbas Afridi chipped in with one wicket.

In reply, Karachi Kings crumbled under pressure and were bowled out for just 136 in 19.1 overs. Captain Shaheen Shah Afridi led the Qalandars' bowling attack brilliantly, removing star openers David Warner and James Vince for ducks in the very first over.

Despite a brief partnership between Shan Masood and Tim Seifert, the Kings kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They slipped to 50/7 before a small fightback from Khushdil Shah and Hasan Ali, who added 48 runs for the eighth wicket. Khushdil top-scored with 39 off 27 balls, while Hasan made 27 off 25.

Shaheen Afridi and Rishad Hossain both claimed three wickets each, while Sikandar Raza took two. Haris Rauf and Asif Afridi took one wicket each.
With this dominating win, Lahore Qalandars earned two points and currently sit at the second of the PSL 10 points table. Meanwhile, Karachi Kings find themselves at the fourth position after their second match.