Shakib Al Hasan becomes first Bangladeshi to 1000 World Cup runs

All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has become the first player in the history of Bangladesh cricket to score 1000 World Cup runs in his career. The landmark achievement came in Bangladesh’s 7th World Cup match against Afghanistan at Southampton on Monday.

Ranked as the world’s No.1 all-rounder in the ICC Rankings, Shakib has been in scintillating form in the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Against Afghanistan, he made his 45th ODI century and his fifth 50-plus score of this tournament. In the process, he also overtook David Warner to become the leading run-scorer in the World Cup.

Bangladesh’s World Cup hopes were pinned on their seniormost player and he has rarely disappointed. In their opening encounter against South Africa, he scored a gritty 75 to take Bangladesh past a 300-plus score. In their second match against New Zealand, he played a similar knock. His swashbuckling 119-ball 121 almost took his team to a historic run chase against England. He followed it up with another hundred against West Indies, this time making sure his unbeaten knock takes Bangladesh over the line.

Against Australia, Shakib scored a patient 41, which included 4 fours. But the Aussies dismissed him just before he could tee off and it turned out to be one of the turning points of the game.

With 476 runs and 5 wickets to his name in this World Cup, Shakib is having the time of his life and could potentially break Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 673 runs in a single World Cup edition. Bangladesh have 2 more games left and qualification pressure notwithstanding, this is a great time for their fans to watch Shakib bat.