Congratulations to Shakib

WE are bit confused! We can't easily tell which one is the cake and which the icing on it. Is Shakib-al Hasan's coming first among the top ten all-rounders in world cricket is the cake, or Bangladesh national side's near- consistent performance against world cricketing power Sri Lanka followed by a convincing ODI series win against Zimbabwe is. Depending upon which is perceived to be truer, the one that is outvoted would obviously be the icing of the cake.

However, breaking through the mists of this rather delightful dilemma, we can see one thing very clearly. The flight of glory that Shakib achieved can be the team's provided the training, honing of talent, individual application, consistency, mettle and big match temperament of his are internalised by most other team members into giving finished international performances.

Seeing Shakib, Mashrafe in the outstanding category, and Tamim Iqbal and Mehrab Hossain in the promising one with quite a few others, it won't perhaps be long before winning becomes something of a habit with the Tigers. It is time our cricketers' defeatist psyche changed into a positive mode. For that to happen, we still have to cross quite a few hurdles: getting the basics right in terms of reflexes and techniques, playing to a game plan that is readily adjustable with changing fortunes, and, above all, playing with a flair that Shakib has shown.

For the first time it seems Bangladesh is taking its place in international cricket, in a real sense. Shakib has not only made it to the top of the ivy league, ranking above seasoned all-rounders like Jacob Oram and Andrew Flintoff, he is also number ten among Test all-rounders and twelfth in the ODI bowling ranking. The only other is Abdur Razzaq ranking eighth in the ICI ODI bowling rankings of last year.

We are heartened to know Shakib has taken his new fame stoically. What he says has a team appeal: 'If I could do it, so could others'. Flashes of success going to head can be the unmaking of the streak of brilliance as we have seen before. Shakib knows better than any one that records are made to tumble, especially in the highly competitive world of cricket. Our hope is though, he being the first timer among the Bangladeshis to reach the top there, the standard is roundly set, for him to sustain it and his peers to strive to scale new heights.