Classical Shakib trumps the new age

Such has been Shakib Al Hasan's brilliance in this World Cup that after a whimpering end to their campaign, Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza kept naming the all-rounder when speaking of the positives. Shakib's performance -- 606 runs and 11 wickets -- actually transcended the results of the team he played for, and Mashrafe said the only regret was that Bangladesh could not take Shakib further.

"I should talk about Shakib; he has been absolutely beautiful. Batted at three, did what he could do. I feel very bad for Shakib," Mashrafe said after the match. "The tournament he had, he deserved to be in the semifinal. Really feel sorry for him. I think it was one of the best performances not just in this World Cup, but in all editions. It is disappointing that a player who played like that is not in the semifinals.

"Mushfiqur [Rahim] batted so well," Mashrafe continued about the positives. "We could not do the right things at the right times. We could not take catches when we needed to, and when we needed to bowl well, the bowlers could not step up."

With this being Mashrafe's last World Cup, there was little to do than look forward to Bangladesh's next World Cup in India in 2023, even though he would not be there. He wished that the core of the team would survive and there would be new players who could step up in favourable conditions.

"When we play in the next World Cup, I am sure if there are new players who come in, the team will go forward even more," Mashrafe said. "I wish and pray that Shakib, Tamim [Iqbal], Mushfiqur and [Mahmudullah] Riyad will be alive and well for the next World Cup so that they can guide the newer players. Since it is in India, I of course cannot say that we will win, but Bangladesh will have a chance.

He was more positive about the next tournament because it would be played in Asia and he believed that a bowling attack that was exposed in England would be more impressive in Asia.

"If you ask me after this tournament, when we play in this part of the world, bowling is a big issue. But if we play in Asia we are a far better bowling side."

Good tidings are piling up for Bangladesh as the team prepare for their World Cup challenge starting with their opening match against South Africa on June 2 in London. The cricketing world knows that Shakib Al Hasan is the best all-rounder on the planet, but as if to remove any lingering doubts caused by Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan briefly usurping the Magura all-rounder’s throne, Shakib was officially back to the top of the ODI all-rounder’s rankings yesterday.

Over much of the last decade, Shakib has usually been a fixture at the top of the all-rounder’s rankings in ODIs, Tests and T20Is, making him the gold standard as far as modern-day all-rounders are concerned.

Having beaten out the likes of Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan to become the fastest to the double of 3,000 Test runs and 200 Test wickets in November last year, Shakib now stands on the cusp of becoming the fastest -- by far -- to the ODI double of 5,000 runs and 250 wickets, which he stands to achieve at the earliest in his 199th match when Bangladesh take on South Africa. If he does achieve the mark on June 2, he would have beaten the next best on the list -- Pakistan’s Abdul Razzaq by a whopping 35 matches. Shakib missed the tri-series final because of back spasms, but that just means that he is set to bring up the special record on the grandest stage of all -- not unlikely for a player who has risen to the occasion more often than not.

Shakib’s brief slip from the top was because of a glut of injuries in the recent past. A finger injury forced him to miss the entire tour of New Zealand earlier this year, while a flare-up of an older finger issue caused him to miss three ODIs against Zimbabwe and part of the Asia Cup last year. However, three matches in the Ireland tri-series -- which preceded Bangladesh’s World Cup campaign -- where he scored 140 runs with two half-centuries and took two wickets, was enough for Shakib to reclaim his spot at the top. He now has 359 points to Rashid’s 339.

Shakib is not resting on his laurels. In Leicester, where Bangladesh concluded an optional training camp yesterday, Shakib was one of the busier players, spending almost an hour in the centre wicket honing his batting. Judging by the rifle-shot echoes of his shots ringing out through the Leicestershire County Cricket Club, practice was going well for the all-rounder.

Having already gotten the immense confidence boost of winning their maiden multi-team ODI trophy -- that too undefeated -- Bangladesh will now head to the World Cup knowing that they have the world’s best all-rounder in their ranks, officially.

In front of a raucously partisan crowd in Edgbaston, England ensured that the 2019 World Cup will see first-time champions crowned with a dominant eight-wicket defeat of five-time winners Australia in the second semifinal yesterday.

After a superb bowling performance that found every Australian batsman bar Steve Smith wanting, England chased a sub-par 223 with little fuss. Skipper Eoin Morgan hit Jason Behrendorff over mid on to secure the win with 17.5 overs to spare, setting off fireworks and uproarious applause.

England have never won a World Cup despite playing three previous finals, and will face New Zealand -- who have also never won the mega event and have reached their second successive title decider -- in the final at Lord’s on July 14.

England’s chase was built around an explosive opening stand between Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy that realised 124 runs in just 17.2 overs and negated any sting in Australia’s attack. Roy was second to depart in the 20th over with the score on 147, but Morgan (45 off 39) and Joe Root (49 off 46) maintained England’s dominance with an unbroken 79-run stand.

It was Roy who dominated the match-shaping opening partnership by scoring 85 off 65 balls. Those runs were worth their weight in gold because, as evidenced in India’s defeat to New Zealand in the first semifinal the day before, a World Cup knockout carries pressure of its own and a slow start or early wickets would only have let Australia back into the contest.

Roy started his carnage with two cover-driven boundaries in the fourth over off Mitchell Starc, who was later to become the highest wicket-taker in a single edition of the World Cup by trapping Bairstow in front for his 27th wicket of the edition. It was otherwise not a happy outing for Starc as he bore the brunt of Roy’s onslaught, leaking 70 runs from nine overs. Roy brought up his 50 off his 50th delivery in the 15th over, after which England were on 95 without loss. If Australia were thinking that a fightback was still a possibility, the next over would have crushed that hope. Aaron Finch brought on the part-time leg-spin of Smith, and Roy launched him for three successive sixes, with the last one bouncing off the roof of the five-story tall media stand behind the sightscreen. Bairstow departed two overs later and Roy himself was denied a century when umpire Kumar Dharmasena adjudged him caught-behind off a Pat Cummins bouncer when replays showed that the ball was nowhere near his gloves as he played and missed the pull. Roy protested, but England did not have a review as Bairstow had used up their lone unsuccessful one when challenging a pretty plumb leg-before decision -- perhaps England’s lone mistake in an otherwise perfect performance.

Earlier, Australia had come into the semifinal with a world of confidence, having beaten England in their league game on June 25 and boasting an all-win record in six previous World Cup semifinals. England, whose defeat at Lord’s against the old enemy formed part of a two-game dip that threatened their semifinal chances, had rallied with victories in their last two league games and yesterday, burst Australia’s bubble inside the first seven overs after losing the toss by taking three wickets with just 14 on the board.

Skipper Aaron Finch departed for a golden duck in the first ball of the second over, playing around an inswinger from the fiery Jofra Archer to be trapped plumb in front, although he wasted their single unsuccessful review. Smith had then entered as the crowd booed loudly.

In the next over, Chris Woakes accounted for David Warner -- Australia’s highest scorer in the World Cup with 636 runs leading into the match -- with a ball that reared from short of a good length and caught the edge of a hopping Warner’s bat on way to second slip.

The pitch was offering early-morning movement with a good helping of pace, and allied with accurate and incisive bowling from Archer and Woakes, Australia found the going tough and limped to 14 in the sixth over. That was when Woakes got one to nip sharply back off the seam and bowl Pete Handscomb.

Then followed the only partnership of note between Smith and Alex Carey as the duo put on 103 for the fourth wicket. Australia reached 27 for three after the first 10 overs and while Carey in particular tried to cut loose, excellent ground fielding from England ensured that Australia were kept on a tight leash. Smith took 34 balls to score his first seven runs, but started making up for lost time with a pulled boundary off Ben Stokes in the 16th over. He was soon on 33 off 50 balls and with the introduction of leg-spinner Adil Rashid, the run rate picked up as Australia’s recovery seemed underway with the score on 103 for three after 25 overs. However, in the 28th over, Carey let the advantage slip by skipping down to Rashid and holing out at deep midwicket. Marcus Stoinis lasted just a ball before he was trapped in front by a perfectly pitched googly. In between, Smith brought up his half-century to another chorus of boos.

Glenn Maxwell then raised hopes of a second recovery when he hit Rashid for a six over long on in the 32nd over. But that is also when the new pace challenge started for Australia in the form of the returning Archer. The right-arm pacer mixed 140kph-plus deliveries with 120kph slower balls and Maxwell was undone by the latter, checking a drive and being caught at cover for 22.

Pat Cummins did not last long, falling victim to another Rashid googly that he edged to slip to leave the score on 166 for seven. Mitchell Starc stayed with Smith during a 51-run eighth-wicket stand that carried the score to 217 for seven, but just when it looked like Australia may make a match of it with a score nearing 250, Smith was run out brilliantly by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, whose direct hit at the non-striker’s end in the 48th over found Smith just short of his stumps, forcing the brave innings to be cut short on 119-ball 85. Starc was caught behind for 29 off the next ball bowled by Woakes. Mark Wood then bowled an inch-perfect yorker to bowl Behrendorff in the next over to bowl Australia out for a sub-par 223 with an over to spare.

I have known Shakib Al Hasan since 2004 when we played for the Bangladesh under-17 team but over the years our paths have diverged. I shifted my profession from a cricketer to a sports journalist while he continued to do what he used to do the best -- play cricket.

I must mention one thing that has not changed even a bit in Shakib since then is his self-belief and accepting whatever comes his way, good or bad. That is perhaps the reason he never looks nervous or tense in any situation in his life, either on or off the field.

The only time I witnessed a panicked and worried Shakib over those years was in October last year when he was in Melbourne, having treatment on an infected little finger on his left hand -- an injury he sustained in the final of the tri-series at home earlier in the same year.

During the course of a phone call, Shakib said: "There is no chance of having surgery until around six months elapse because of the infection. If that [infection] remains [when the surgery is done] then the hand will be ruined, so no one will take that chance. We have to wait till it's a hundred per cent sure that the infection is gone."

I could easily feel the uncertainty and the apprehension in his voice while we he was saying that over the phone.

As things were going at that time, it looked that Shakib's World Cup participation was in jeopardy considering the amount of time left from then to the flagship event.

Another interesting thing about Shakib -- the person as well as the cricketer -- which I have closely observed is that he never wants to prove his abilities to anyone. Instead, he seems to want to eclipse himself silently. Whenever you ask him how things are going, he will give you a smile and say 'it's going okay'.

In the 2007, a young Shakib showed a sliver of his ability in his maiden World Cup appearance in the West Indies, scoring a fifty against India in the opening game and helping Bangladesh clinch a memorable win. Expectations rose as Shakib matured and was given responsibility of captaincy, but he was unable to live up to those expectations in the 2011 World Cup at home.

He did however lead from the front both with bat and ball during the 2012 Asia Cup at home the next year, when Bangladesh reached the final of a multinational event for the first time. Shakib was instrumental in the Tigers' success.

Since then he has continued to perform consistently. He went on to score two fifties and picked up eight wickets in the 2015 World Cup, but there is a sense of dissatisfaction from the champion cricketer when it comes to the World stage. His magnificent century against New Zealand during the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017 is still etched into the memory of Tigers fans. However, Shakib started to eye the 2019 World Cup -- his fourth World Cup appearance -- as the platform where he wanted to elevate himself to the next level.

Perhaps lying in the hospital bed in October 2018, Shakib made the promise to himself to reach new heights in the upcoming World Cup -- what may be one last opportunity in the World Cup -- if given the chance by the Almighty.

One thing I should also mention is that Shakib is not the type of character who sets any specific targets as an individual; rather his best comes when he enjoys his time in the middle, which is being witnessed through his body language and involvement in all the departments of the games in this World Cup.

He might become embroiled in controversies and he may not express himself fully to the media -- only trying to answer to the point without thinking of anything else -- which at times has seen him face a lot of trouble.

But one thing is clear, you just cannot predict Shakib. You can only sit and wait to see: What's next from this champion?

Shakib Al Hasan is not in Sri Lanka for the three-match ODI series as the champions all-rounder was granted a break by the Bangladesh Cricket Board following a magnificent World Cup and it seems that the hosts have worked out their plan of action in the stalwart's absence.

Shakib was outstanding in the World Cup and was one of the contenders for the player of the series after scoring 604 runs and scalping eleven wickets. However, the Tigers have been struggling to put up any sort of fight against Sri Lanka in his absence and have already lost the series 2-0. They will go into today's third game looking to avoid a whitewash.

A relaxed Dimuth Karunaratne, the hosts' skipper, admitted that Shakib's absence had helped his side tremendously when it came to chalking out their game plan. He opined that it was difficult for Bangladesh to replace someone like Shakib, but he was reluctant to say that the star's absence had an impact on either team's mentality.

"I don't think so [difference in mental strength]. As I said earlier, the main thing was Shakib [ Al Hasan]. If you take the World Cup, Bangladesh did really well because of Shakib and Mushfiqur [Rahim]. Those are the two batsmen that carried them through the World Cup. They batted really well and kept scoring big runs, and as a result the team was scoring 250, 300-plus. Once Shakib isn't there they have to fill that hole in both bowling and batting, I can't see anyone who can replace him. At that time, they had to bring in two players for the batting and bowling and that's why they couldn't balance the side and struggled," Karunaratne told reporters yesterday.

Although the Sri Lanka team management are expected to provide an opportunity to some fresh faces for the third game, Karunaratne informed that they would be looking for a clean sweep, something that would help the hosts gain more rating points in the ICC ODI rankings.