Where has the old Shakib gone?
The southpaw so far has scored 82 runs with the bat and taken 5 wickets with the ball in the 8 matches he played.
Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan returned to competitive cricket after serving a year-long ban last month through the ongoing Bangabandhu T20 Cup. But, apparently, the old Shakib is not back yet.
Shakib was having a great time before his ban, especially with the bat. He scored a whopping 606 runs in the ICC Cricket World Cup including 2 centuries. He had a blistering strike rate of 96.03 and an average of 86.53 in the tournament. He was consistent with the ball as well. He picked up 11 wickets in the campaign.
He also had a good time in the latter tournaments before his ban.
But Shakib has been struggling with both bat and ball in the ongoing T20 tournament. Gemcon Khulna have played out all their group stage matches in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup and Shakib had featured in all of them with providing very little help to the team.
The southpaw so far has scored 82 runs with the bat and taken 5 wickets with the ball in the 8 matches he played.
His 82 runs came at a strike rate of 107.89. His average has been one of the poorest so far, being only 10.25. What caught more attention is his way of getting out.
Shakib has been poor in bowling as well. He bagged only 5 wickets from 8 matches so far with the best bowling figure being 30/2 against Gazi Group Chattogram. His economy, however, was on the brighter side.
With Shakib's return, expectations were high on him. It was however expected that he would struggle a bit in the early stage but he has been out of form for a bit longer. With this prolonged off-form, the question arises, where has the old Shakib gone? Well, only Shakib can answer that.
Shakib, though, seemed confident of his return. He thought it will just be a matter of match to get back to his usual best.
"I will try to get back (to form) as soon as possible," Shakib laughed when asked about his form.
"I will keep trying, let's see what happens in the next matches," said Shakib.
Gemcon Khulna currently stand second in the table after playing out their group-stage matches. Their position will depend on Beximco Dhaka's next match. They, however, have cemented their position in the play-offs.
