Shakib, Mushfiq among The Guardian’s best Test XI of 2017

Bangladesh cricket superstars Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim have been selected as a Test player respectively in the list of The Guardian’s best Test XI of 2017.

British prestigious newspaper The Guardian on Tuesday published the news on their website.   

Explaining Shakib’s performance, The Guardian said, “The best all-rounder in the world isn’t Ben Stokes, or either of India’s two talented spinners Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, but Shakib Al Hasan. He began the year by breaking Bangladesh’s national record for the highest score in Test cricket, with 217 against Trent Boult and Tim Southee in Wellington.”

“Then he shaped Bangladesh’s first against Sri Lanka by scoring their only century in a four-wicket victory in Colombo. His peak, though, was his performance in Bangladesh’s famous first victory against Australia. That was in Dhaka, where he made the top score of 84 and followed up by taking a match haul of 10 for 153,” it said.

The Guardian also said, “Mushfiq scored 159 in a record-breaking stand with Shakib against New Zealand in January, and followed up, a month later, with 127 in Bangladesh’s first-ever Test in India. After that he made a string of gritty rearguard fifties against Sri Lanka and Australia. Along the way, he was hospitalised, twice, after being hit on the head by Duanne Olivier and Tim Southee.”

“That’s two Bangladesh players, then, which seems a lot since it also happens to be the number of matches they won this year. But then, it wasn’t for a want of effort from their captain, who has been their leading run-scorer, and, more often than not, their wicketkeeper too,” it added.

Best Test XI of 2017 according to the Guardian:
David warner (Australia), Dean Elgar (South Africa), Cheteshwar Pujara (India), Steven Smith (Australia), Virat Kohli (India), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), Mitchell Starc ( Australia), Nathan Lyon (Australia), James Anderson (England), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa).