Still Shakib stands tall
As Bangladesh take on the West Indies in the series deciding third T20I today, bringing an end to an action-packed calendar year, the one man that stands out in the Tigers' ranks in terms of performance across all formats is Shakib Al Hasan.
It has not been smooth sailing, though, for the champion all-rounder as he suffered a debilitating injury to the little finger on his left hand during the final of the tri-nation ODI series against Sri Lanka at home in January, which eventually forced him to miss four Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is in various patches.
Despite missing those matches, Shakib still managed to remain among the top five Bangladeshi performers across all formats this year, with the only exception being the top run-getters' list in Tests where he finished sixth.
Since missing out on the two-match Test and T20I series against Sri Lanka in January, the left-hander was called up in the middle of the Nidahas Trophy in March where he played two matches including the final.
Shakib then took part in the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in Dehradun in June and went to the Caribbean in July where he made a comeback in the longer version during the two-match Test series. While the Tigers were humbled in the Test series, they won both the ODI and T20I series, with Shakib leading from the front with both bat and ball.
Despite regaining full fitness, the 31-year-old, who played four games in the Asia Cup, had to go under the knife so as to not let his inured finger get any worse and then he travelled to Melbourne for further consultation.
After missing out on the two-match Test and three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe at home, Shakib made another comeback against the West Indies and immediately broke into the record books after the first Test in Chattogram.
The all-rounder became the first Bangladeshi cricketer to take 200 wickets and became the fastest to complete the double of 200 wickets and 3000 runs, achieving the feat in one Test less than Ian Botham's long-standing record of 55. The all-rounder also bagged the man-of-the-series award in that series.
The Tigers went on to clinch the three-match ODI series, and Shakib was again instrumental before he almost singlehandedly gave his team a series-leveling win in the second T20I on Thursday, thanks to a maiden five-for and 42 runs.
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