Super Shakib

It was a special day for Shakib Al Hasan as he took centre stage yesterday as he started the match as the best all rounder in the world.

Going to sleep early after the news was broken to him on Thursday night, Shakib contributed significantly to yesterday's decider by picking up three wickets and scoring an unbeaten 33 off 36 deliveries to make the day memorable for both him and the Tigers.

The holiday crowd on Friday chanted his name and got behind him entirely and the object of their affection did little to disappoint as he kept to his reputation of guiding his side to victory. But, despite all his achievements and attention the lad from Magura remains level-headed about it all and thinks its best to not let success get to his head.

"I tried to sleep early last night. When I went in to bat, I had it in my mind that I'll have to do something today because I would need to prove my worth as the best all-rounder. No doubt it is my personal success but my team's victory is much more important to me and comes first" said Shakib admitting that he was excited when he went in to bat.

"After this success people will expect more out of me, but I am positive in my thinking and outlook. I believe my achievements will inspire my other teammates and our team can rise through the ranks in international cricket. I also believe that more players from Bangladesh will make it in the ICC Championship rankings" he added.

Shakib also came up with a popular saying, "It's easier to achieve independence but difficult to maintain, so I have to be keep my feet on the ground".

When asked which one of his performances was his best, the all rounder smiled and said, "actually my memory is not that sharp, however I can remember a few batting performances".

While Shakib is having a ball on the field, his captain Mohammad Ashraful is clearly going through a bad patch but has the full support of his team.

When asked about all the criticism against Ashraful, Shakib said, "Its not easy to captain a side like Bangladesh, Ash (Mohammad Ashraful) is not scoring at the moment but I do not think he is batting badly. It's just a matter of time before he comes back from the rust and makes a big score".

There has been a lot of debate on the pitches in Mirpur which has produced low scoring games so far and Shakib believes that it would be difficult if the same pitches are prepared for the upcoming series against Pakistan in March, owing largely to the opponent's strong seam attack.