Shakib rues profligate fast bowlers

Shakib Al Hasan's half-century was to no avail as the bowlers had leaked too many runs

Related Links

Players/Officials: Shakib Al Hasan

Matches: Bangladesh v India at Dhaka

Series/Tournaments: ICC Cricket World Cup

Teams: Bangladesh

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has held his fast bowlers responsible for making his decision to insert India backfire spectacularly.

"I thought we could have bowled better" Shakib - downcast but not desolate - said. "We bowled too many boundary balls, and that cost us the game."

The opening ball of the World Cup, short and wide from Shafiul Islam, yielded a boundary as Virender Sehwag crunched it through extra cover. Shafiul went on to concede eight more runs in his first over, including a four off the last ball. By the end of the third over, the Indian openers had hit six boundaries and raced to 32. It led to the introduction of spin in the fifth over.

"I thought we had a better chance of winning the game chasing," Shakib said repeatedly. "It would have been a different game had we got two early wickets. That was our plan. Our fast bowlers didn't execute the plan, that was the main problem.

"I thought our fast bowlers have been bowling really well for the last 12 months. Today wasn't their day but hopefully they will come back strongly."

He said he was satisfied, however, with the effort with the bat despite his team finishing 87 runs short of the target. "The plan was to bat properly, playing cricketing shots. We knew the wicket was good, and if one of Tamim (Iqbal) and Junaid (Siddique) had kept going, we could have got a very good total.

"That was our plan, and I thought we executed our plan very well. We didn't try to hit too many slogs, we played all cricketing shots, and got close to 300. I thought we batted really well and sensibly."

He refused to be drawn into discussing the non-selection of Mohammad Ashraful, who has spent more time on the bench than in the playing XI under his captaincy, and to a pointed question on whether he had a problem with the senior players, his response was a cryptic and dismissive "no comments."

Source

Shakib is Wisden Test player of the year

London: Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan pipped Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and South African captain Graeme Smith to become Wisden Cricketer's World Test Player of the Year on Thursday.

The 22-year-old Shakib topped the performance table of all Test match players based on marks awarded by Wisden Cricketer correspondents, who reported on every Test played during the period.

Shakib averaged 7.94 out of 10 for each of the eight Tests he played between the beginning of September 2008 and the end of August 2009.

Shakib took 45 wickets at 23 with his left-arm spin, including five five-fors, in addition to scoring 498 runs at an average of 35.57.

This performance placed him ahead of more-established Gambhir, Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Dale Steyn and Andrew Strauss.

"I guess I owe my performance to keeping things simple. I don't lose sleep over disappointments and rather look ahead to seize the next opportunity. I have been a performer and I work hard at my game to become the best cricketer I can be. Getting recognised by The Wisden Cricketer is the pinnacle of individual recognition as far as I am concerned," Shakib said.

Wisden editor John Stern said though a surprise choice, Shakib is deserving for his consistency in the past 12 months.

"I'm sure this achievement will be a surprise to many followers of the game but it represents an outstanding 12 months for Shakib, especially in the context of him playing for an international side that is still finding its feet," he said.

Shakib is bullish about Bangladesh's future prospects and hopes to see it become a top side.

"One day we will be right up there at the top and it is a realistic prospect. Just look at the players we have. Tamim Iqbal, Ashraful, Mortaza can be match-winners and now we have Rubel (Hossain) who can bowl at 90mph.

"Give us a few years to grow together. Teams who face us in the coming months will be taking on a victorious unit and not the Bangladesh of old. There is a difference you will notice," he said.

Wisden Cricketer World Test Player of the Year: 1. Shakib Al Hasan (7.94), 2. Gautam Gambhir (7.63), 3. Graeme Smith (7.21), 4. Sachin Tendulkar (7.00), Jacques Kallis (7.00), 6. Ben Hilfenhaus (6.94), 7. Andrew Flintoff (6.88), Dale Steyn (6.88), 9. Fidel Edwards (6.81), 10. Andrew Strauss (6.77).

Source