Shakib at 36: More runs than Viv Richards, more wickets than Kapil Dev

Thursday’s third One-Day International (ODI) against Ireland was a unique experience for Shakib Al Hasan. For the first time in his career, Shakib didn’t roll his arm over nor picked up the bat for the entire duration of an ODI.

Why? Because he didn’t need to. The pacers ran through the Irish batting line-up and the openers finished the chase themselves, earning Bangladesh a thumping victory in Sylhet.

Shakib had a laid back day at the office, which was perhaps an early birthday gift from his teammates as the following day the ace Bangladesh all-rounder turned 36, officially entering the latter half of his 30s.

Most international cricketers start losing their edge at this age, and the unofficial countdown to the end of their career begins.

But Shakib isn’t like most cricketers, he never has been. The all-rounder from Magura is showing no signs of slowing down. Rather, he is looking as sharp as ever on the field, still making the batsmen dance to his tunes with the ball in hand and is hitting big shots more consistently than ever before.

Shakib is widely regarded as one of the greatest all-rounders of the game. There are some, mostly Bangladeshi cricket fanatics, who would take the ‘one of the’ out of that phrase.

But that is a blanket statement, driven more by emotions than facts and statistics. When compared with the greatest ever all-rounders, where does Shakib rank?

To make this comparison, at first one would have to make a list of the greatest all-rounders, which is a gargantuan task on multiple accounts.

There are three different formats in cricket– Test, ODI and Twenty20. The newest one of the three, T20, began around two decades ago, meaning many great all-rounders of the past ended their illustrious careers before the format was even created.

So, to get a fair assessment, it would be better to not include that format in the comparison. It would also be wise to make separate lists for ODIs and Tests.

Still, going through all the great all-rounders one be one, coming up with parameters for judgment and ranking them in order is a herculean task that could take days. And still, there will always be questions about whether the list is conclusive enough.

Not many are qualified and sufficiently equipped to make a list like that. I, definitely, am not one of them. So, I’ve circumvented the entire process and left the burden of making the list up to ICC.

The cricket’s governing body constantly updates players rankings for bowlers, batters and all-rounders in all three formats. But at the same time, it also has an all-time ranking for all three disciplines in each format.

In those rankings, the ICC lists who according to their parameters are the greatest batters, bowlers and all-rounders to ever play the game in order.

As per the ICC all-rounder’s rankings, the five greatest Test and ODI all-rounders are as follows:

TEST: 1. Garry Sobers (West Indies), 2. Ian Botham (England), 3. Jacques Kallis (South Africa), 4. Keith Miller (Australia), 5. Richie Benaud (Australia)

ODI: 1. Kapil Dev (India), 2. Greg Chappell (Australia), 3. Andrew Flintoff (England), 4. Viv Richards (West Indies), 5. Lance Klusener (South Africa)

How does Shakib fare when compared with these legendary all-rounders? Let’s have a look.

Tests have long been Bangladesh’s Achilles heel. The Tigers’ successes in the format have been few and far between. And in most of those successes, Shakib Al Hasan played a vital role.

Shakib has played 65 Tests, scored 4367 runs at an average of 38.64. He has scored 30 half-centuries and five centuries, one of which was a double hundred.

With the red-ball, Shakib has taken 231 wickets with his left-arm spin at an average of 31.18. He has taken five wickets in an innings a whopping 19 times and claimed a 10-wicket haul twice.

Shakib’s stats in the format are objectively great. They seem even more remarkable when one considers the fact that he has played for a team that is still to find its footing in the five-day format.

Still, when compared with the above listed top five Test all-rounders, Shakib falls behind.

Shakib has more runs than Keith Miller (2958) and Richie Benaud (2301) and also averages better than them and Ian Botham (33.54).

But in terms of total runs, he is behind Jacques Kallis (13,289), Garry Sobbers (8032) and Botham (5200).

Shakib is only ahead of Miller (170) in terms of total wickets, but that comparison would be unfair to the latter, as he has claimed those wickets at a staggering average of 22.97, which is grossly better than Shakib.

In terms of five-wicket hauls, Shakib is only bested by Botham, who has taken five wickets in an innings 27 times.

Shakib is at his very best in ODIs. He is very much at home in the 50-over format and his stats with both bat and the ball show exactly that.

Shakib the batsman has accumulated 7086 runs in 230 matches at an average of 37.89. He has reached the three-figure mark nine times and scored a staggering 53 half-centuries.

The left-arm spinner has 301 wickets in the format, at an excellent average of 28.94. He also has five fifers to his name.

Shakib is only one of three players to have more than 7000 runs and 300 wickets in ODIs. The other two players are Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi.

Shakib has both more runs and more wickets than the five best ODI all-rounders listed above.

In terms of batting average, Shakib is behind Viv Richards (47.00), Lance Klusener (41.10) and Greg Chappell (40.18). Kapil Dev (27.45) and Andrew Flintoff (24.38) slightly edge Shakib when it comes to bowling average.

But overall, Shakib is clearly up there with the best in ODIs.

It would be remiss of me to say that the comparison made above proves Shakib's status as one of the best all-rounders ever.

The reality is, the opinion on this matter will always be split. The list of the best all-rounders will look different when different criteria are considered. So, there never will be any conclusive answer to the question, of who is the greatest all-rounder of all time in cricket.

But, the comparisons above show that no matter what parameters are decided upon, Shakib's name will come up whenever the topic of the best all-rounder of all time comes up.

Given that Shakib still has a lot of international cricket left in him, it would be safe to assume that the all-rounder will keep rising through the ranks and take himself to a higher pedestal in international cricket. At least, that's what millions of Bangladeshis will be hoping for.