Shakib Al Hasan

Easily the finest player Bangladesh have produced, Shakib Al Hasan is a canny, consistent and accurate bowler and an aggressive batter with a wide range of strokes in his repertoire. He has spent long periods at the top of the ICC's allrounder rankings across formats, a validation of his stature in the game.

In 2008, in his seventh Test, Shakib made 71 and took 7 for 36 in Chittagong against New Zealand, only the second instance of a Bangladesh bowler taking as many wickets in a Test innings. The next year, in his first Test as captain, against a weakened West Indies side in Grenada, Shakib took eight wickets and scored an unbeaten 96 in a tense but successful fourth-innings chase of 215, leading Bangladesh to their first overseas series victory. Three Tests later he scored 87 and 100 - his maiden Test century - in a losing cause against New Zealand in Hamilton.

Shakib was made captain in all formats in 2009 after Mashrafe Mortaza was sidelined by injury. Under Shakib, Bangladesh won 22 out of 47 ODIs, and even beat England in the 2011 ODI World Cup. But the disappointing tour of Zimbabwe that followed, in which Bangladesh lost a one-off Test and the ODI series, led to his removal. He was brought back as captain in Tests in 2018, and put back in charge of the ODI side as well in 2023 when Tamim Iqbal quit, though Bangladesh had a disappointing World Cup that year under Shakib.

His form hardly waned, however, as he quickly bounced back to help Bangladesh bowl out West Indies for 61 in a consolation win in an ODI series; and he capped the year with a big hundred and five-for against Pakistan in the same Test - he would repeat the feat in 2014 against Zimbabwe. Three years later he made 217 in Wellington in a Bangladesh total of 595 - their biggest against a non-Asian side away from home. A few months before, he had taken 12 wickets in two Tests in the drawn home series against England. Later in 2017 came ten wickets and 89 in the first innings in Bangladesh's first ever Test win against Australia.

Shakib has also been a franchise cricket regular since he was first picked by Kolkata Knight Riders in 2011 and was part of their title wins in 2012 and 2014, with 12 and 11 wickets in those seasons. In 2013, his first of five seasons in the CPL, he finished with 11 wickets, the second most in the tournament, and he returned in 2016 to take 12. At home, he won two BPL titles with Dhaka sides, as player in 2013 and captain in 2016. He is the tournament's top wicket-taker, with 149 wickets in nine seasons.

But Shakib's cricketing brilliance has often been marred by spotty behaviour on and off field. He copped multiple fines and bans for losing his temper during games and for clashes with umpires, but his longest and most serious suspension came in 2019 when the ICC banned him for two years from all international cricket (one year suspended) for failing to report a corrupt approach. The ban came just after his most prolific ODI World Cup appearance, in which he scored fifties in seven of eight games, including two hundreds, finishing as Bangladesh's top run-scorer and third overall.

Nevertheless Shakib is undeniably Bangladesh's greatest cricketer, with over 14,000 runs and 700 wickets to his name in international cricket. He was the first from the side to achieve the double of 2000 runs and 100 wickets in ODIs, the only Bangladeshi bowler to have taken more than 300 wickets in the format, and he also has the most runs and wickets for the side in T20Is, a record unlikely to be surpassed by any Bangladesh allrounder in the near future.