'I have to do it every day' - Shamim on mixing the mercurial with the mundane

In Sri Lanka, Shamim Hossain is doing things rarely expected from Bangladesh's cricketers. He finds boundaries early in his innings and clears the rope regularly. He is taking excellent catches, both inside the 30-yard circle and in the deep. Even his bowling - his weakest suit - has been accurate. On Sunday, he executed one of the rarest dismissals by a Bangladesh fielder: a direct-hit run out from a tight angle.

Shamim swooped in from point and struck the stumps at the non-striker's end, with Kusal Mendis well short of his crease. Kusal, surprisingly, slowed down despite seeing Shamim charging in. Given Bangladesh's poor history with direct hits, Kusal may be forgiven for underestimating Shamim, who ended his innings with sharp fielding.

Bangladesh's last direct-hit run-out came more than two years ago, when Mehidy Hasan Miraz removed Jos Buttler. Since then, and even long before, fielding has been a major problem for Bangladesh. Their drop-to-catch percentage remains high. Their approach to run-out opportunities receives less scrutiny, but is equally concerning, with frequent misses at the stumps - especially when only one stump is visible.

Earlier that day, Shamim had given Bangladesh a major lifeline with his 27-ball 48. He added 77 runs for the fifth wicket with Litton Das, who also returned to form in white-ball cricket. Bangladesh scored 76 runs in the final six overs, with Shamim's big-hitting at the death taking them to 177 for 7 in 20 overs. It was 22 runs above Dambulla's average first-innings total in the last five night T20Is at the venue. Bangladesh eventually won by 83 runs, their second-highest margin of victory in T20Is.

Litton was named the Player of the Match, but Shamim was the toast of Dambulla, and one of the few bright sparks for Bangladesh on this tough tour of Sri Lanka. "Whenever I go out to bat, my plan is to stay positive," Shamim said after the match. "Someone has to take risks, and I want to take that responsibility for the team. This was an important win for us."

The series is now level 1-1 heading into the third and final T20I on Wednesday.

Shamim also took a fine catch in the second innings to complement his runs in the first innings, as Bangladesh dominated Sri Lanka in the powerplay. As much as he might want to be a trailblazer for his team, Shamim knows it starts with getting the basics right.

"I think fielding is very important," he said. "I can't say I'm overly happy [with the run-out] because it's my job, something I have to do every day."

Bangladesh's 83-run win was built on two fifty-plus partnerships. Litton and Towhid Hridoy steadied the innings after the openers fell in the first two overs. Then Shamim and Litton got them to a strong position with their rapid fifth-wicket stand.

"Sometimes, you have to slow things down a little," Shamim said. "At that point (when Litton and Hridoy got together), we needed a good partnership because we had strong batters to come later in the innings, and we can always catch up if we have wickets in hand. So, that partnership between Litton and Hridoy was crucial.

"Litton batted really well. It was a turning point because you need a good start early on, and because of that innings, we were able to finish strongly later."

Bangladesh have a chance to sign off the T20I series with a win in Colombo on Wednesday. Once again, they will expect their players to string together vital contributions. Shamim's will be especially crucial because of his ability to mix the basics in with his mercurial acts: common for other teams, but rare for a Bangladeshi.