Shakib becomes No. 1 Test allrounder

Shakib Al Hasan[1], the former Bangladesh captain, has become the No. 1 Test allrounder in the latest ICC rankings following his outstanding performance against Pakistan in Mirpur[2]. Shakib’s rise ended Jacques Kallis’ lengthy hold on the position.

“Without any doubt it’s great news for me and for the country’s cricket, and I’m really happy. I have had the self-belief that it will come my way sooner or later because for a long time I was in the top five, so it was a matter of time,” Shakib told the Daily Star. “It’s fantastic that the performance in the last Test of the year helped me achieve this feat, but it would be much better if we could manage a good result from the last Test match.”

Shakib became the first Bangladesh player to score a hundred and take five wickets in an innings during a Test, and his 144 and 6 for 82 won him the Man-of-the-Match award. The century was Shakib’s second in Tests and it lifted his average to 34.68. He averages 31.36 with the ball and has 96 Test wickets. Pakistan, however, won the Mirpur Test to take the series 2-0.

Kallis, who made 31 and went wicketless in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Centurion, was the No. 1 allrounder for 3696 days and will have the chance to reclaim the top position during the final two matches of that series in Durban and Cape Town.

Daniel Vettori, Shane Watson and Stuart Broad complete the top allrounders list in Test cricket

Link requested by Nawshad Shah | Original source at http://www.espncricinfo.com/bangladesh/content/current/story/546592.html[3]