Shakib Al Hasan will be greatest Bangladesh cricketer once he finishes, opines Mike Hussey

One player might already have bagged the Player of the Tournament award in the ICC World Cup 2019 irrespective of his team’s end performance. He is Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. The 32-year-old cricketer has created a Midas Touch with both the bat and ball. Be it scoring hundreds or fifties or picking five-wicket hauls, the Bangladeshi has done it all in this tournament and bagged some rare records. Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey has rated him as the player of the tournament so far.

Shakib entered a rare club on Monday by hitting a fifty and picking a fifer against Afghanistan in Southampton. He thus became the only cricketer after Yuvraj Singh to score a half-century and pick five wickets in the same game. Yuvraj had done it against Ireland in the 2011 World Cup. Also, Shakib became the third cricketer after Kapil Dev (1983) and Yuvraj (2011) to score a hundred and take five wickets the same World Cup.

Shakib has hit two centuries and three fifties already in WC 2019

The left-hander has slammed two hundreds and three fifties in this World Cup so far besides picking 10 wickets. He has been a trump card for his side in their bid to make it to the semi-finals. Shakib has to continue with his good work against India and Pakistan, Bangladesh’s final two opponents in the league stage of this World Cup.

“He is probably being the player of the tournament so far and I don’t think anyone can dispute that. He has been instrumental in putting Bangladesh in the fifth position and a possible fourth,” Hussey said at the post-match analysis on Star Sports.

Besides, Shakib also became the first cricketer to complete 1,000 runs and 30 wickets at the World Cup, bettering the record of Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya who has over 1k runs and 25 wickets. He is also the first to claim 10 wickets besides scoring 400 runs at one World Cup edition. Overall, he became the fastest cricketer to score 6,000 runs and take 250 wickets in the 50-over format.

Hussey also said the Shakib’s numbers suggest that once he finishes, the Bangladeshi will be considered the greatest to have played for the country. “Over the course of his career he has been very underrated but given the numbers, once Shakib finishes his career he going to go down as one of the greats and certainly the greatest player to have played for Bangladesh,” the 44-year-old said.

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Bangladesh next play India at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on July 2. Three days later, they will take on Pakistan at Lord’s.