Shakib is Wisden Test player of the year

[Andy]

London: Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan pipped Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and South African captain Graeme Smith to become Wisden Cricketer's World Test Player of the Year on Thursday. The 22-year-old Shakib topped the performance table of all Test match players based on marks awarded by Wisden Cricketer correspondents, who reported on every Test played during the period. Shakib averaged 7.94 out of 10 for each of the eight Tests he played between the beginning of September 2008 and the end of August 2009. Shakib took 45 wickets at 23 with his left-arm spin, including five five-fors, in addition to scoring 498 runs at an average of 35.57. This performance placed him ahead of more-established Gambhir, Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Dale Steyn and Andrew Strauss. "I guess I owe my performance to keeping things simple. I don't lose sleep over disappointments and rather look ahead to seize the next opportunity. I have been a performer and I work hard at my game to become the best cricketer I can be. Getting recognised by The Wisden Cricketer is the pinnacle of individual recognition as far as I am concerned," Shakib said. Wisden editor John Stern said though a surprise choice, Shakib is deserving for his consistency in the past 12 months. "I'm sure this achievement will be a surprise to many followers of the game but it represents an outstanding 12 months for Shakib, especially in the context of him playing for an international side that is still finding its feet," he said. Shakib is bullish about Bangladesh's future prospects and hopes to see it become a top side. "One day we will be right up there at the top and it is a realistic prospect. Just look at the players we have. Tamim Iqbal, Ashraful, Mortaza can be match-winners and now we have Rubel (Hossain) who can bowl at 90mph. "Give us a few years to grow together. Teams who face us in the coming months will be taking on a victorious unit and not the Bangladesh of old. There is a difference you will notice," he said. Wisden Cricketer World Test Player of the Year: 1. Shakib Al Hasan (7.94), 2. Gautam Gambhir (7.63), 3. Graeme Smith (7.21), 4. Sachin Tendulkar (7.00), Jacques Kallis (7.00), 6. Ben Hilfenhaus (6.94), 7. Andrew Flintoff (6.88), Dale Steyn (6.88), 9. Fidel Edwards (6.81), 10. Andrew Strauss (6.77). ========================================================== http://cricketnext.in.com/news/shakib-is-wisden-test-player-of-the-year/44408-13.html

[Andy]

Wisden have gone mad!!:finger:

[Sachinism]

Wisden = :fail: I guess they forgot to look at the quality of the opposition

[DomainK]

This is quite messed up. #Shakib averaged 35.57 with the bat in the last 12 months. Take WI out of it and his average is 30.81. # He scored "zero" centuries in the last 12 months. In fact he has never scored a century in his entire career. # 3 50s, one of them against WI. # His bowling average was 23.17. Take WI out and the average is 24.96. # His bowling SR is 51.9. Take WI away and it's 52.5. Has no one done better than that?

[vvvslaxman]

wisden choices are generally strange. no big deal. Probably will be a happy moment for bangla fans.

[DomainK]

wisden choices are generally strange. no big deal. Probably will be a happy moment for bangla fans.

That's an understatement. They will hail Sakib as better than Tendulkar.

[Bradman99]

Good for him I suppose.. Although I think it was the wrong choice, not enough was taken into account.

[jf1gp_1]

Shakib didnt choose his opposition; also while looking at stats you need to look at how important his innings were in context of game. I havent really followed BD that closely but Shakib has won them lots of games in the last year. Well done Shakib, Congratulations

[DomainK]

Shakib didnt choose his opposition; also while looking at stats you need to look at how important his innings were in context of game. Well done Shakib, Congratulations

C'mon. In evaluating a player, opposition makes a big difference. He didn't chose them, but that does not make him the best player of the year. By your logic, if Pakistan had not played anyone else by Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they would have won team of the year?

[jf1gp_1]

C'mon. In evaluating a player, opposition makes a big difference. He didn't chose them, but that does not make him the best player of the year. By your logic, if Pakistan had not played anyone else by Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they would have won team of the year?

Fine, then lets deduct 150+ wickets taken by Murli against BD and ZIm from his total, after all he doesnt deserve to be the highest wicket taker in history of cricket by getting some bonus wickets

[DomainK]

Fine' date=' then lets deduct 150+ wickets taken by Murli against BD and ZIm from his total, after all he doesnt deserve to be the highest wicket taker in history of cricket by getting some bonus wickets[/quote'] Now you are twisting the logic. When you evaluate Murali as a bowler, those 150 wickets he took against the minnows will not matter a lot. You have to see his performance against better opposition.

[Sachinism]

Shakib didnt choose his opposition; also while looking at stats you need to look at how important his innings were in context of game. I havent really followed BD that closely but Shakib has won them lots of games in the last year. Well done Shakib, Congratulations

OK lets look past the opposition. Look at his stats, are they really that good? But I still feel you have to consider opposition when looking at the context of the game.

[jf1gp_1]

there is a reason why BD are at the bottom of rug; they dont win anything, had WI fielded its first choice team there was no way BD would have won the test series, i accept everything. All i am saying is look at him as an individual, he has got them wickets when needed, got them runs , he did well against NZ (dont remember who else they have played in the last yr) took over captaincy after arhraful stepped down, could they have chosen someone else yes but Shakib in my opinion isnt a bad choice.

[riasat]

Well I know we are the bottom of the rug....we suck...our players are worse than Indian school teams.....I mean cmon guys, sometimes try accepting some actual facts too... Shakib is a good player...I mean there are better batsmen than him and also better bowler than him...but as far as a complete cricketer is concerned there is none better than him.... He single handedly turned bangladesh into a fighting unit when 4 of our frontline players left for ICL. (imagine what happened to india when sehwag and yuvraj was unavailable in recent series).... At the age of 22....he is currently a top allrounder in world cricket, He is bangladeshs best bowler batsmen and fielder....A complete cricketer....

[jusarrived]

Well I know we are the bottom of the rug....we suck...our players are worse than Indian school teams.....I mean cmon guys, sometimes try accepting some actual facts too... Shakib is a good player...I mean there are better batsmen than him and also better bowler than him...but as far as a complete cricketer is concerned there is none better than him.... He single handedly turned bangladesh into a fighting unit when 4 of our frontline players left for ICL. (imagine what happened to india when sehwag and yuvraj was unavailable in recent series).... At the age of 22....he is currently a top allrounder in world cricket, He is bangladeshs best bowler batsmen and fielder....A complete cricketer....

while we agree that hes a decent cricketer , honestly dint deserve the award for just cricketing reasons ...it should have been either GG or Smith imo

[vvvslaxman]

I think wisden choices are generally random. I think we shouldn't read too much into it. If you go back to history it has been the case. If this award is going to inspire other Bangladeshis and make them play better, well and good. I am sure they have certain criterias which Sakib met.

[ViruRulez]

Crap award :yawn2:

[OriginalCopy]

"Shakib is Wisden Test player of the year " - That's the crappiest thing I've read in a long time!!

[riasat]

"Shakib is Wisden Test player of the year " - That's the crappiest thing I've read in a long time!!

Guess u are not a regular at ICF....:--D Or you don read your own post....

[OriginalCopy]

My frustration is not against Shakib, it is against the non performance of other top players that allowed (in my opinion) a mediocre cricketer to walk away with the award after performing credibly against most weak opposition. Well, award is an award, congratulations anyways! It is not his fault nobody else performed.