Shakib finally turns up

Following a barrage of criticism, Bangladesh's star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan finally delivered with the bat against the Netherlands in their crucial Group D game of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown on Thursday.

The 37-year-old all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 46-ball 64, reaching his fifty off 38 deliveries, as Bangladesh made 159 for five in 20 overs on a decent-looking pitch.

Shakib, who also became the eighth batter to reach the landmark of 800 runs in the T20 mega event, starred in three crucial stands of 48, 41, and an unbroken 29 with Tanzid Hasan (35 off 26), Mahmudullah Riyad (25 off 21) and Jaker Ali (14* off 7), respectively, to propel Bangladesh to a competitive score.

Being the recipient of criticism is nothing new for Shakib but the poster boy of Bangladesh was heavily scrutinised for underperforming in the first two matches of the mega event. Shakib could score just eight in the Tigers' two-wicket win against Sri Lanka in their tournament opener and managed three in the following four-run defeat to South Africa.

While Shakib had been struggling with the willow for a while now -- his last T20I fifty before today's knock dating back to October 2022, against Pakistan in a tri-nation series including hosts New Zealand -- it seemed as if he had let it spread to what comes naturally to him: his bowling.

Against South Africa, Shakib was used for just one over -- the first time in his T20 career that Shakib bowled just one over in a game that saw the completion of the full 20 overs. There were reasons for the team management's apparent reservation in limiting Shakib's overs against the Proteas as he had conceded 30 off three overs, including a 16-run over, in the Sri Lanka match.

Such performance even drew some scathing comments from experts, including former India opener Virender Sehwag who had asked for Shakib to "be embarrassed" and "retire from the format".

However, as he so often does, Shakib turned things around yesterday, displaying some confident strokeplay and game sense -- as if in reply to Sehwag and critics. He did see a few deliveries fly off the edge of his willow for boundaries but Shakib looked a different player altogether than he had been for a while, batting at a strike rate of around 140 and smashing a total of nine boundaries.