Shakib Al Hasan getting better with the bat

Bangladesh's top allrounder Shakib Al Hasan is a natural when it comes to bowling. He has admitted numerous times that he works much harder on his batting than sweating it out with a ball in his hand.

When journalists ask him what he savours the most, a five-wicket haul or a hundred in tests, he invariably goes for the latter. Shakib enjoys bowling, but a good knock makes him grin much wider, especially when he is playing the longest format of cricket.

The fact that Shakib has been trying to improve his batting in recent years is actually reflecting in his performance in test matches. If you take a look at his career stats, his contribution with the bat from 2011 onwards is simply awe-inspiring!

With the bat in tests, Shakib averaged 50.14 in 2011, 51.25 in 2012, 45.00 in 2013, 47.11 in 2014 and 101.50 in 2015 besides leading Bangladesh's spin attack. During this period, he scored two hundreds and has fourteen 50-plus scores.

In the recent two-match test series against Pakistan, Shakib's form with the bat was quite impressive. In the first test at Khulna, he scored 25 and 76 not out. He was unbeaten on 89 in the first innings of the 2nd test match at Mirpur and was dismissed for 13 in the second outing by Mohammad Hafeez.

In 39 test matches in his career, Shakib has scored 2732 runs at an average of 40.17. His highest knock of 144 came against Pakistan in 2011. Shakib has three tons and 19 fifty-plus knocks in tests so far.

His test match batting average is the second highest for Bangladesh after Mominul Haque's 60. Shakib is now fourth on the list of most runs in tests for Bangladesh behind Habibul Bashar, Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Ashraful.