Mosaddek making the most of his secondary role

Everyone remembers the epic 224-run partnership between Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah against New Zealand in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and how Bangladesh scripted one of their greatest comebacks to seal a spot in the semifinal, of course for the first time in an ICC event. But the duo's heroics with the bat somewhat - if not completely - overshadowed a game-changing three-over spell. 

Mosaddek Hossain was surprisingly introduced into the attack as late as in the 42nd over of that match and the part-timer removed three dangerous Black Caps batters - Neil Broom, Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham - to break the backbone of their batting line-up and New Zealand, instead of getting a total somewhere around 300, had to be satisfied with 265. Mosaddek's three for 13, therefore, remains one of the most crucial bowling spells in Bangladesh cricket's history. 

Primarily a middle-order batter, Mosaddek loves his bowling and especially in T20 cricket, he often bowls inside the powerplay. Mosaddek is by no means a classical off-break bowler. He rather looks to push it through at pace which makes him quite a difficult customer to go after.

Mosaddek was the most economical bowler in the first T20I against Zimbabwe while the other bowlers went for at least nine-plus runs an over. In the second T20I, captain Nurul Hasan Sohan gave him the responsibility of opening the bowling. It was not the first time he was doing the job for his team though.

And he struck in the first over itself, removing Regis Chakabva and Wesley Madhevere, one of Zimbabwe's stars in the previous match. Then he got Craig Ervine and Sean Williams, two of Zimbabwe's most experienced players, dismissed in consecutive overs. Milton Shumba became his fifth victim and Mosaddek became only the fourth Bangladeshi bowler to pick up a five-for in T20Is.

Before this match, he had bowled ten times inside the first six overs in 20-over cricket and now has an economy rate of 7.8 during this phase. It was the third time he bowled inside the powerplay in T20Is.

When Mosaddek came into the scene, he was touted as the next big thing in Bangladesh cricket. But he hasn't been able to do justice to his ability with the bat and so has been in and out of the team. In the first match, Bangladesh fell short of the target of 206 and Mosaddek's inability to go big at the death was one of the reasons. He batted at seven as the designated finisher and he should have scored quicker than 13 off 10. One might say it's a very small sample size but you have to deliver the goods when the team needs you. 

Mosaddek has previously shown what he is capable of with the bat. Bangladesh's only multinational trophy in international cricket came home thanks to his batting. Consistency has been the problem for Mosaddek and if he can work on that, he can still be a valuable asset for Bangladesh cricket.