Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been carrying his bat to mere perfection for his team at the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup thus far. Riding his knocks, the Bangla Tigers have registered two victories in three games, and against Afghanistan in Southampton on Monday, he achieved a unique record which will go down as one of the finest milestones in the country’s history for a long time.

Scoring yet another half-century against the Afghans, the 32-year-old not only became the top scorer of the tournament, but also became the first Bangladeshi to score 1000 World Cup runs. The record was registered when the all-rounder reached 35 off his 51-run knock.

While he is the first one from his country, overall, he is the 19th batsman to reach the milestone. India’s Sachin Tendulkar, with 2278 runs in between 1992-2011, sits at the pinnacle, while the former Australia captain Ricky Ponting – with 1743 runs in between 1996-2011 – sits second. In all, there are 5 Sri Lankans, 3 Australians, 3 South Africans, 3 West Indians, 2 Indians, 1 Pakistani and 1 New Zealander in the list.

As for Shakib, he has played four World Cups, from 2007-2019, and it took him 27 matches to reach the milestone. Batting at No. 3 for his country, the 32-year-old has been wreaking havoc of late, dismantling everything the opposition bowlers are throwing at him.

He started his tournament’s tenure by scoring 75 against South Africa, followed by 64 against New Zealand. Two back to back tons against England and West Indies followed before he registered his tournament’s lowest – 41 – against Australia.

Meanwhile, as far as ODIs are concerned, he is only second highest run scorer for his country after behind Tamim Iqbal, who are the only Bangladeshi to have surpassed the 6000-run mark.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / Cricket World Cup

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World Cup 2019Shakib Al HasanBangladesh