Shakib leading from both ends

“He is Bangladesh's best ever player. I believe this places a huge responsibility on his shoulders. If he can get a bit of support from a few of the other players he could have a starring role in the World Cup. As a world-class player in a weaker team he'll get loads of opportunities to perform with both bat and ball so he should be right up there in the wickets and runs charts at the end. Also he has gained some valuable time playing in the Big Bash with the Melbourne Renegades which will help him in terms of readiness for the local conditions. Of course he'll have to play off the back foot a little more than his does in the sub-continent conditions but he can still be a very clean striker.”

We haven't seen a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for years and two players that played a huge role the last time it was hosted in the region in the 1992 World Cup were Ian Botham and Imran Khan - both all-rounders. With this in mind, former Australia pacer Andy Bichel picked his Top 10 all-rounders for this tournament. Obviously he had to include the world's best all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan and he was lavish in his praise of the Bangladesh ace.