Shakib is ‘once in a generation’ player: Mahmudullah
Photo - ICC
|| CF Correspondent ||
Mahmudullah Riyad termed his colleague Shakib Al Hasan as a player of ‘once in a generation’, saying that a player of his caliber is tougher to find out in a generation.
The ace all-rounder currently has been serving a two-year ban, with one year of that suspended imposed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to his failure to report the corrupt approaches by bookies.
As Shakib is not with the team, Bangladesh felt the void created by the absence in both batting and bowling as the all-rounder was equally handy in both departments.
Shakib who is the only player in the world who achieved the top spot in all three formats of ICC all-rounder rankings concurrently indeed won Bangladesh many matches in all format, performing with both batting and bowling.
And he is a rare breed of player who is rated as a genuine all-rounder. Therefore, Mahmudullah doesn’t want to keep him in the same league of Shakib.
He rather termed Shakib a player of a generation and said he couldn’t be like Shakib but he would be happy if he can contribute like Shakib in bowling also apart from his batting.
“I can’t compare myself with Shakib. It won’t be right indeed if I want to do that. It’s tough to get a player like Shakib in one generation. He is one and only. We all know how capable he is and what strong his cricketing skill and brain. If I can contribute in bowling like him, I will be very happy.
Mahmudullah’s comment came in the wake of a question whether he could fill the void left by Shakib.
He said that he thinks himself as a batting all-rounder and he vowed to contribute well in bowling too if he gets the opportunity.
“In the last seven months I didn’t bowl. Afif, Mosaddek bowled in this period and they did well. They have been in rhythm. If I feel that I am in rhythm I will try to take the challenge in bowling.”
