Shakib believes batting at no.3 best for him

Bangladesh’s ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan believes that because he is batting higher up the order at no.3, he is getting a better opportunity of scoring big and credits that to one of the reasons he’s been batting so well in the World Cup.

The left-handed batsman scored a brilliant 124-run innings off just 99 deliveries and helped Bangladesh chase down a challenging 322 target with ease against the Windies at Taunton on Monday.

“I know if I bat at 3 I'll get more opportunities, more time to bat. What happens is that sometimes if I bat at 5, I come in at the 30th over or 40th over, which I felt is not ideal for me,” Shakib said during the post-match presentation, where he was adjudged man-of-the-match.

The 32-year-old admitted that he has been putting an extra effort and working on his batting from his time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with his batting coach Mohammad Salahuddin for the past month-and-a-half and that has reaped him rich rewards.

He also was very satisfied that he could see the big chase through and stay on till the end of the innings.  

“To stay at the wicket till the end was the most satisfying thing for me. I have been working on my batting for last month and a half and it’s paying off,” Shakib explained.

Shakib became the top run-scorer in the World Cup after his century with 384 runs while he was also effective with the ball, taking two wickets.

But he believes that it was a team effort and others also contributed to help achieve the win. Liton Das was not out on 94 and there in a mammoth 189-run partnership with him.

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Tamim Iqbal scored 48, his highest score this World Cup.

Mustafizur Rahman chipped in with three wickets including that of the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer and Andre Russell in the same over.

And Mohammad Saifuddin also took three wickets and one of them was of big-hitting Chris Gayle, who was dismissed for a 13-ball duck.

“I think it was a team effort. We restricted the West Indies to a reasonable total and at the end of the innings we had the belief that if we bat well then we can chase that run,” Shakib added.

Shakib has been a star with the bat and although he’s been among the wickets with the ball, he has been expensive. The left-armer admitted that he could still get better with his bowling.

“I'm working on my bowling too. At this moment I'm doing okay but I can certainly get better.” concluded an ambitious and optimistic Shakib.