Legendary Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan praised Rohit Sharma ahead of India vs Bangladesh warm-up fixture in the T20 World Cup 2024. However, both teams will play against each other in a warm-up game on Saturday, June 1 at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York as well.
Ahead of the fixture, Shakib applauded Rohit Sharma, praising his leadership over the past few years as well. He also stated the respect the opposition has for the Indian captain and lauded his ability to take the game away from the opposition single-handedly as well.
“I think the way he led India in the last few years was terrific. He has tremendous record as a captain. I think all the players respect him as a leader of the team. He’s someone who can take the game away from the opponent single-handedly,” said in a video shared by Star Sports.
However, Rohit Sharma has a stellar record against Bangladesh in both ODIs and T20Is. He has 454 runs to his name from 12 innings in the T20Is at an average of 37.83 and a strike rate of 141.43 with five fifties as well. On the other hand, he has 786 runs to his name from 17 innings at an average of 56.14 and a strike rate of 97.27 with three centuries and as many fifties as well. He had scored two crucial centuries against them in the quarter-final of the ODI World Cup 2015 (137 off 126) and the semi-final of the 2017 Champions Trophy (104 off 92) as well.
Meanwhile, both Rohit Sharma and Shakib are the only two players to appear in all the editions of the T20 World Cup so far as well. The Bangladesh all-rounder is the leading wicket-taker in the history of the tournament with 47 wickets to his name from 35 innings at an average of 18.63 and an economy of 6.78. On the other hand, Rohit is the fourth-highest run-getter in the tournament with 963 runs from 36 innings at an average of 34.39 and a strike rate of 127.88 as well.
Meanwhile, Shakib Al Hasan has also hinted at the possibility of playing in the next World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026 as well.
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“Firstly, when I started I didn’t expect that I will play for so long and secondly since the start of T20 Cricket World Cup till this T20 World Cup, I have participated in all them along with Rohit Sharma. It is a matter of pride for me and I’m happy that I could represent the country,” Shakib was quoted in a video uploaded in BCB’s Facebook page on Friday. “Me and Rohit Sharma are the only two players who played all the T20 World Cups and I hope that I can play another World Cup but before that would like to perform well in the tournament and Bangladesh can do better than previous T20 tournament.”
Shakib Al Hasan, who spends most of his time in the USA as his family is based there, further added that he expects Bangladesh to do well in the tournament, as the wickets are going to be similar to home. Shakib also added that he is expecting an equal battle between bat and ball in the ICC T20 World Cup.
“It is alright that USA is my second home but it is difficult to say but I think we will get that because earlier when we played in West Indies and America we did well and we played in Florida we did well. We always get favour their because those pitches are quite similar to ours back home. I hope we will get advantage in both the places,” he said. “The only thing that I feel is that here it should be the same competition between bat and ball and it should not be one-sided and normally that is not the case with World Cups and I feel it would be the same this time round.”
Shakib Al Hasan also admitted that he still finds cricket much easier than dealing with matters as a Member of the Parliament. Notably, Shakib is currently an MP in Bangladesh after winning in his Magura constituency during the last general elections as well.
“For me being the member of the parliament is difficult (compared to playing cricket) because I am playing for a long time since my childhood and feel very comfortable with it while this (politics) is new to me (being member of the parliament). There will be lot of Bangladeshi fans there (in the World Cup) and I hope they will give us full support and this support will help us and we will be able to give good results. I don’t want to see anything besides my name and the only thing that I want is to contribute for Bangladesh team and hope to do well for Bangladesh in this World Cup,” he concluded.
