Shakib al Hasan is one of the greatest all-rounders of his generation and all time, beyond any question mark. And as it goes, great players shine in the greatest of events.
In the ICC events, Shakib al Hasan has been a phenomenon for Bangladesh. He has been adjudged the player of the match on the last five occasions Bangladesh won a match in an ICC event.
In the group stage match against New Zealand in ICC Champions Trophy 2017, Shakib came to bat when Bangladesh were 3 down for 12 runs while chasing a target of 266. He went on to score 114 with a good strike rate and kept the hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the tournament alive.
The next match that Bangladesh won in an ICC event was against South Africa in the group stage of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Shakib Al Hasan came to bat at number 3, his usual position then. He went on to score 75 off 84 and took the important wicket of Aiden Markram.
In the other two group stage wins of that tournament, against West Indies and Afghanistan respectively, Shakib scored a swashbuckling 124 not out from just 99 deliveries and a brilliant half-century respectively. Having picked up 2 wickets and 5 wickets respectively, he was adjudged the player of the match on both occasions.
Fast forward to T20 World Cup 2021, the very next ICC event. A cornered Bangladesh from the defeat against Scotland were 21/2 in 4.3 overs in a do or die match against Oman when Shakib came out to bat.
And he left the crease when Bangladesh were 101/3 in 13.3 overs, after scoring 42 off 29 deliveries. To add to that, he picked up 3 wickets with the ball too.
In the T20 World Cups, Shakib is the highest scorer for Bangladesh, the fourth-highest overall among the current cricketers with 629 runs. He is the highest wicket-taker as well for Bangladesh with 35 wickets to his name. He is just 5 wickets away from breaking the all-time record Shahid Afridi is holding currently, with 39 T20 World Cup wickets.
Change the format and Shakib will be constant. In the ICC Cricket World Cups, Shakib al Hasan has scored 1,146 runs at an average of 45.84. He has also picked up 34 wickets for Bangladesh. He is the highest run-scorer as well as the highest wicket-taker in the World Cups for his country.
No other individual has scored more than 1000 runs and picked up more than 30 wickets in ICC Cricket World Cups.
Considering Shakib al Hasan's all-time stats in the ICC events and immense contribution in all the victories of his country in ICC events since 2017, Shakib had to be at his best against Oman on 19th October, and he did not disappoint.
