Background and career
Shakib Al Hasan (Bengali: সাকিব আল হাসান, romanized: Sākib āl hāsān; born 24 March 1987) is a Bangladeshi businessman, politician, and former international cricketer who has played Test, One Day International ( ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket for the Bangladeshi cricket team, and has captained the side. He served as the member of Parliament for Magura-1 after being elected in January 2024. A left-handed middle order batter and slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he is considered as one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. As of 2026, he is the leading wicket-taker in the history of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Shakib made his Test debut against India in 2007. In a Test against New Zealand in Chittagong in 2008, he took 7 wickets for 36 runs, the best figures by a Bangladeshi bowler at that time. He captained Bangladesh to its first Test win over England in 2016. In Tests he has scored over 4,000 runs and taken over 200 wickets. In ODIs he has scored over 6,000 runs and taken more than 270 wickets, and he is the fastest player to complete the double of 5,000 runs and 250 wickets. At the 2012 Asia Cup he scored 237 runs, including three half-centuries, and took six wickets. Bangladesh reached the final for the first time and lost to Pakistan by two runs, and Shakib was named player of the tournament. At the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, he scored 606 runs, the third-highest total in the tournament, and broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most runs in a single World Cup group stage. In T20 franchise cricket, he has played for teams including the Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Jamaica Tallawahs and Dhaka Dominators. He won the Indian Premier League twice with Kolkata, in 2012 and 2014, and the Bangladesh Premier League three times with Dhaka Dominators, in 2012, 2013 and 2016. He was named player of the tournament in the BPL a record four times, in 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2022. He has won 41 man-of-the-match awards, the most by a Bangladeshi player, and 16 man-of-the-series awards across all formats. Between 2009 and 2022, he captained Bangladesh in 120 matches across the three formats. Shakib Al Hasan has been a consistent performer for the Bangladesh cricket team over the years. His career has been filled with controversies over the years, consistently making it to the top of domestic media headlines. He was ranked the 90th most famous athlete in the world by ESPN in 2019. He was included in the ICC Men's Team of the Year twice (2009, 2021).
Born in Magura District, Khulna Division, Shakib began playing cricket at an early age. According to Prothom Alo sports editor Utpal Shuvro, "Shakib was fairly proficient at cricket and was often hired to play for different villages and teams". In one of those matches, Shakib batted aggressively and bowled fast, as he usually did, but also chose to experiment with spin bowling which proved to be not so effective. He was picked to play for Islampur, and took a wicket with his first ball; it was his first delivery with a proper cricket ball, having previously played with a taped tennis ball. He spent six months training at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan, a government-run sports institute. Shakib played his debut Under-17 match against UAE Under-17s in 2003 in the ACC Under-17 Cup where he recorded bowling figure of 3–18 in 8 overs (with 2 maiden overs). In May 2004, at the age of 17, Shakib made his first-class debut for Khulna where he got a bowling figure of 0/116 off 30 overs in the 1st innings and 3/92 off 28 overs in the 2nd innings. He also scored 13 off 11 with three 4s in the 1st innings and 16 off 43 in the 2nd innings. His 1st first-class wicket was Rakibul Hasan. Shakib first represented Bangladesh at the Under-19 level in November 2005 in the 2005 Afro-Asia Under-19 Cup against India Under-19. In his debut match, he scored 24 off 23 balls with four 4s and also achieved a bowling figure of 2/26 in 10 overs with 2 maidens by taking his first wicket of Tanmay Srivastava. In the tournament, Shakib played 5 matches, scoring 138 runs at an average of 38.50 and getting 5 wickets at an average of 25.20. On 30 November 2005, 18-year-old Shakib guided Bangladesh to a four-wicket win over England in the opening match of the tri-nation Under-19 tournament (involving England and Sri Lanka) with his 82 off 62. During the final of a tri-nation tournament, Shakib scored an 86-ball century and took three wickets to lead his team to victory. In his 18 youth One Day Internationals, he has scored 563 runs at an average of 35.18 with three 50s and one 100 and a high score of 100 and took 22 wickets at an average of 20.18 with an economy of 3.68 and a best figure of 4/34. On 1 January 2005, Shakib made his first-class debut in the match between Bangladesh Cricket Board President's XI and Zimbabweans where he scored 14 off 14 in the 1st innings and 15 off 66 in the 2nd innings. He also got bowling figures of 0/133 in 32 overs. In February 2005, Shakib got his 1st first-class international wicket by dismissing Vusimuzi Sibanda and a five-wicket haul playing against Zimbabwe A.
Since 2004, Shakib has played for Khulna in the National Cricket League. In the 2004–05 season of the tournament, Shakib, since his debut in May 2004 at the age of 17, played just 3 matches. He scored 129 runs at an average of 25.80 with a high score of 54 and took 16 wickets at an average of 27.87 with a best bowling figure of 6/79 in an innings and 9/114 in a match. In the 2006–07 season, he played just 2 matches scoring 51 runs at an average of 17.00 with a high score of 23. He bowled only in 1 innings where he bowled 4 overs of 9 runs with 1 maiden over. Shakib has played 14 matches scoring 930 runs at an average of 40.43 with three 100s and a high score of 129. He also got 31 wickets at an average of 33.16 with one 5-wicket haul.
Having signed a contract in November 2009, Shakib joined up with Worcestershire, playing in the second division of the County Championship, in July 2010. He was the first Bangladeshi to represent a county team. Shakib was forced to delay by the BCB for the beginning of his spell as Worcestershire's overseas player. 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. After the 2011 IPL, Shakib returned to Worcestershire for seven weeks. He played a single County Championship match as his time with the team coincided with the 2011 Friends Life t20, but in that match, he took seven wickets and passed 3,000 runs in first-class cricket. Shakib signed a one-match deal with Surrey for their vital County Championship fixture against Somerset at Taunton. In 1st innings of Somerset, Shakib claimed took 4 wickets of 97 runs. Shakib played five List-A matches for Worcestershire, scoring 187 at an average of 37.40 (including two half-centuries) and taking 9 wickets at 17.77.
Worcestershire finished fifth out of nine teams in their group for the T20 competition, failing to qualify for the quarter-finals. From 12 matches, Shakib took 19 wickets, finishing as the club's leading wicket-taker, equal with seam bowler Gareth Andrew. He also scored 110 runs at an average of 9.16. Shakib signed for Leicestershire as their second overseas player for 2013 Friends Life t20 campaign. Shakib played in 10 matches scoring 146 runs at an average of 18.25 with a top score of 43* in the 7-wicket win over Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge. He also got 9 wickets at an average of 27.00 with an economy of 6.50 and a best bowling figure of 2/7 in the 10-wicket win over Yorkshire.
Although Shakib was part of the auction of players held the following month for the 2009 Indian Premier League, Shakib was not chosen by any of the eight teams and no bids were made for him despite being rated as the world's highest-ranked ODI all-rounder at the time. His teammate Mashrafe Mortaza, who was bought in the auction by the Kolkata Knight Riders, said "I would have been a lot happier if Shakib had got a team because he truly deserved it for his sensational form with the bat and ball". Shakib had no buyers in the 2010 IPL auction as well, which was very surprising considering his stature in international cricket at the time. For the 2011 Indian Premier League, Shakib was contracted by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for US$425,000. He made his debut in the tournament on 15 April 2011 in a match against Rajasthan Royals. He claimed two wickets in the match, first that of Amit Paunikar and then Shane Watson, but did not get the chance to bat as his team only lost a wicket, winning by 9 wickets. KKR were knocked out in the semi-finals of the competition; Shakib played in seven matches, taking 11 wickets at an average of 15.90, and finished as KKR's third-highest wicket-taker. In the 15th Match of the 2012 IPL against Rajasthan Royals, Shakib got a bowling figure of 3–17 which is still his best in his IPL career. KKR won their maiden title in the final against CSK where Shakib contributed with a crucial cameo. In the 2014 Indian Premier League, Shakib was retained by KKR for a league fee of INR 2.80 crore. In the competition, he scored 227 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 149.34; his best being a 60 off 38 balls. He also achieved 11 wickets in 13 matches at an economy of 6.68 and an average of 30.36. His all-round performance was instrumental in KKR's title win. For his performances in 2014, he was named as the 12th man in the Cricinfo IPL XI. In the 2015 IPL, Shakib played only four matches scoring 36 runs at an average of 12 with 23 being his highest score and picking up four wickets at an average of 30.75 and gave away 8.78 runs per over with his best bowling figures of 2/22 against Mumbai Indians.
