Shakib glad to be back on top

There has not been a lot going along Shakib Al Hasan's way lately. The suspended all-rounder has had to bear the agony of training separately from his national teammates. He also missed out on achieving a unique feat of winning both the Indian Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League -- his team Barbados Tridents lifted the trophy earlier this week -- in the same year.

Amidst all the gloom, however, the left-hander found a hint of solace yesterday when he regained the number one spot in the ICC Test all-rounders rankings.  He regained the spot five months after losing it to India's Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin slipped to number two due to his poor performance against England.

The left-hander expressed his delight through a tweet yesterday.

“Another reason for me to keep smiling, that's for getting the number 1 position back in the Test all-rounder ranking! Keep praying for me!” he tweeted yesterday evening.

The left-hander is currently serving a suspension on disciplinary grounds. As per the current state of the suspension he cannot play international and domestic cricket until January 7 and will not be issued No-Objection Certificates for foreign leagues until December 31, 2015.

However, BCB president Nazmul Hassan Papon has said that the board was likely to reduce the duration of Shakib's punishment later this month.