Shakib finds bowling form in time

Fortune Barishal skipper Shakib Al Hasan has been in great form with the bat throughout the ongoing ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League but it seemed like he was a tad out of touch with the ball in hand.

But as the tournament is reaching its business end, Shakib has also regained his form with the ball as he grabbed another player of the match award in their match against Khulna Tigers on Friday.

In the first eight matches of the tournament, although he was pretty economical with the ball in hand, his killer blows with wickets were absent. He only had four wickets till then, an underperformance considering his standards.

However, in the following two matches, Shakib has been different. Against Dhaka Dominators, he picked up two wickets for 18. On Friday, he got only one but had the zip back.

His first ball found Andrew Balbirnie’s edge as the batter tried to sweep and on the next, Khulna skipper Hope tried to clear him over mid-off and skewed it in the air, which the fielder failed to grab on. After that, Shakib conceded a four and a six to end up giving away 14 runs in his first over, despite creating two opportunities.

In the next over, though, he produced a brilliant arm ball to which Mahmudul Hasan Joy had no reply and saw the stumps rattled.

Shakib could have had another one when Hope danced down the track and missed the delivery in the same over. But wicketkeeper Anamul Haque fumbled, allowing Hope to play on.

Despite his expensive first over, Shakib ended with just 25 runs in four overs, meaning he had given only 11 runs in his last three overs, effectively killing the game.

As Barishal gear up to rach the finals again, they need Shakib to star with the ball too. And as things stand, he is finding that just in time.