Shakib Al Hasan's Captaincy

Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan (Bengali:born 24 March 1987) is a Bangladeshi international cricketer of the national team. He is an all-rounder, batting left-handed in the middle order and bowling slow left-arm orthodox. He represented Bangladesh at under-19 level, 18 Youth One Day Internationals between 2005 and 2006. Shakib made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Zimbabwe in August 2006, and his Test debut on 18 May against India. During a match against New Zealand in 2008, Shakib took the best bowling figures by a Bangladesh player in Tests, 7 wickets for 37 runs. Until then, Shakib had been considered more of a batsman than a bowler, although still an all-rounder. From January 2009 to April 2011, Shakib was ranked first amongst ODI all-rounders by the ICC. In December 2011, he became ranked first amongst Test and ODI all-rounders.

Captaincy 

New Zealand and Zimbabwe
In October 2010, New Zealand went to Bangladesh for five ODIs. In the first match of the series Mortaza injured his ankle and was forced to leave the field; Shakib took over, and under his leadership Bangladesh secured a nine-run victory, during which Shakib took four wickets and scored 58. Once it emerged that Mortaza would be unable to play in the rest of the series, Shakib was made captain for the remaining matches.In the fourth match Shakib scored a century and took three wickets to help his team win nine runs. Bangladesh went on to win the series 4–0,their first series victory against a full strength ICC Full Member nation. Shakib finished the series as the player with most runs and wickets on either side: 213 runs and 11 wickets.

Zimbabwe
Shakib was appointed captain for Bangladesh's tour of Zimbabwe in August 2009 as Mortaza was still injured. In the second ODI of the five match series in Zimbabwe in August 2009, Shakib scored 104 off only 64 balls before being run-out – his third ODI century – to help his team to their highest score in ODIs and lead Bangladesh to a 2–0 lead in the series. He finished the series with 170 runs from 5 matches at an average of 42.50 – fifth highest run-scorer– and 6 wickets an average of 39.66, fourth highest wicket-taker in the series. Following his team's 4–1 victory in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, Shakib travelled to Australia to undergo medical treatment for acute groin pain. He had been experiencing pain since the end of the West Indies tour, but had decided to play through the pain and lead Bangladesh in Zimbabwe.Although he did not win, Shakib was nominated for the Cricket of the Year and Test Player of the Year in the 2009 ICC Awards; he was the only Bangladesh player to be nominated in either category that year

England and the Asia Cup
Shakib in the field against England during the second ODI, shortly after relinquishing the captaincy.
Over February and March 2010 England toured Bangladesh for two Test and three ODIs. England won all of their matches against Bangladesh. Shakib was Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in both the Test and ODI series (9 wickets in Tests and 5 in ODIs). In the second Test Shakib scored 49 and 96, and took 4/124 from 66 overs. Both Tests went to the final day and Shakib expressed the opinion that the experience had exhausted his side. The match was also a source of controversy after incorrect umpiring decisions on the third day went against Bangladesh, prompting Shakib to blame the lack of a referral system for some of the team's misfortune.In turn, Bangladesh toured England in May and July the same year. They again lost the Test series 2–0. Shakib finished as his team's leading wicket-taker (8), although he only scored 52 runs. Before the ODI series, Bangladesh left England for Sri Lanka which was hosting the 2010 Asia Cup in June. Bangladesh lost all three of their matches. With five wickets, Shakib was Bangladesh's lead wicket-taker with Shafiul Islam (5 each).

Having signed a contract in November 2009, Shakib joined up with Worcestershire County Cricket Club, playing the second division of the County Championship, in July 2010. He was the first Bangladeshi to represent a county side. While playing for Worcestershire he took his best first-class bowling figures of 7/32 against Middlesex. In eight first-class matches he scored 358 runs at 25.57 (with one score over 50) and took 35 wickets at 22.37,as Worcestershire secured promotion to the first division at the end of the season.Shakib also played five one day matches for Worcestershie, scoring 187 at an average of 37.40 (including two half-centuries)and taking 9 wickets at 17.77.

West Indies
In Mortaza's absence through injury, Shakib led Bangladesh for the remainder of the tour. Aged 22 years and 115 days at the start of the second Test, Shakib became Bangladesh's youngest captain and fifth youngest in the history of Test cricket. Under Shakib's leadership Bangladesh went on to win the second Test, and in the process secured their first overseas series win. Individually Shakib performed well, earning both the player-of-the-match and player-of-the-series awards, scoring 16 and 96 not out with the bat and taking 3/59 and 5/70 with the ball. He scored 159 runs in the series at an average of 53.00 and was Bangladesh's second highest run-scorer for the series; his haul of 13 wickets at an average of 18.76 from both matches meant Shakib was the equal highest wicket-taker for the series along with West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach. After winning the Test series 2–0, Bangladesh proceeded to whitewash the ODI series, winning 3–0. The West Indies' dispute remained unsolved for the whole of Bangladesh's tour and the West Indies continued to field an inexperienced side. Shakib collected two half centuries in the ODI series, averaging 45.00, and was the third highest run-scorer in the series;he also took 2 wickets at an average of 48.00. For his performance in the ODIs, Shakib was named the man of the series.

Post-captaincy 

Bangladesh's first series under new leadership was against the West Indies in October 2011. Relieved of the captaincy, Shakib was Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in both the ODI and Test series,His bowling was backed up by 168 runs in the two Tests (of the Bangladesh players on Tamim Iqbal scored more), and 79 from two innings in the ODIs. Bangladesh lost both series.Following this, Shakib was Bangladesh's top run-scorer and wicket-taker in the home Test series against Pakistan in December 2011. In the second Test of the series he became Bangladesh's first player to score a century (his highest score, 144) and take five wickets in an innings in the same Test. After the series he moved to the first place on the ICC's ranking of Test all-rounders.The ODI series against the same opponenets also saw Shakib become ranked first amongst ODI all-rounders.