Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is in the midst of a stupendous show at the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019.
The No.1 all-rounder in the 50-over format has been consistent and well-focused in this World Cup. He had asked the Bangladesh team management for the No.3 spot in the batting line-up and has excelled there in the matches played so far. With the event entering the second half, this left-handed middle-order batsman is the leading run scorer with 384 runs from four matches. Moreover, Shakib has already taken five scalps in the premier tournament.
After the match-winning knock of 124 against West Indies on Monday, Shakib has crossed some milestones also. The 30-year-old all-rounder became the only second Bangladesh batsman to score 6,000 runs in One-Day Internationals (ODI). First one to cross this mark was Tamim Iqbal, the left-handed opener.
Shakib has also become the highest run scorer for Bangladesh, which is popularly known as ‘The Tigers’, in a single edition of the World Cup; the previous best was 369 runs scored by Mahmudullah in 2015
After scoring two consecutive fifties against South Africa and New Zealand in the earlier matches, now Shakib has scored back-to-back centuries. His first ton came up against England, the tournament favourites . His innings helped the team to wage a decent fight against the mammoth total of 386 set by the hosts who ultimately won.
Shakib came to the spotlight in the cricketing world a decade ago after his fine knocks against India and England in the 2007 World Cup. He made a huge impact by these performances and he never had to look back. He held the No.1 all-rounder position across all formats in 2018.
Shakib is Bangladesh's mainstay and the sole consistent performer in the team. In an event like World Cup, every player needs to bring their best to win matches, but that is not happening. When their victories against top teams are no more 'upsets', if Shakib gets some more support from the other end, like against West Indies, they can give tough competition for other teams as the World Cup progresses. They have already beaten one of the top teams, South Africa, earlier in the tournament.
