Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh all-rounder, World Cup 2019 Player Full Profile: Experienced Shakib expected to deliver goods at showpiece event

Shakib Al Hasan is no doubt the most talented cricketer to come out from the annals of Bangladesh cricket till date. On more than one occasion, the southpaw has been rated as the best contemporary all-rounder in the world by the International Cricket Council (ICC). A genuine left-arm spinner and a quality middle-order batsman, Shakib has been an indispensable part of Bangladesh team across formats for more than a decade now. Much like some of his other contemporary teammates, Shakib is also a product of Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP), the national sports institute of the country and came through the ranks of age-group cricket. He first burst onto the scene in the 2006 Under-19 World Cup, in which Bangladesh went on to beat teams like New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. [caption id=“attachment_4345359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File picture of Shakib Al Hasan. Reuters[/caption] His heroics in the competition earned him a place in the national team and just before the 2007 World Cup, Shakib scored his maiden ODI hundred against Canada. Later he played a key role for Bangladesh as the Tigers outclassed teams like India and South Africa in the World Cup in Caribbean. Following that exposure, Shakib never looked back. He put up consistent all-round performances with both bat and ball and went onto become the captain of the team in the 2009 tour of West Indies and under his leadership Bangladesh achieved the first-ever series victory (Test and ODIs) in the Caribbean, when they beat a depleted hosts. In the 2011 World Cup at home, he led the Bangladesh team but failed to live up to the expectations. And later that year, he was stripped off the captaincy. Nevertheless, as a player he continued to grow. In 2011 Shakib was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) and had fruitful outings for quite a few seasons. And the southpaw became the most sought after Bangladesh cricketer in the franchise-based T20 leagues around the world. Currently he has close to 4,000 runs and more than 200 wickets in Test matches, whereas in ODIs his run tally has crossed the 5500-mark and has close to 250 scalps. In his career, on quite a few occasions, Shakib has faced disciplinary charges from the Bangladesh Cricket Board. But despite that, when it came to handing over the captaincy of the Test and T20 teams recently, the board trusted its experienced warrior. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, click here