Sakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal
As Bangladesh stand on the verge of their sixth World Cup campaign, the players have the chance to exceed their previous results in the competition and reach a bundle of personal milestones along the way.
Bangladesh will begin their World Cup journey against South Africa on June 2 at Oval and then will play another eight group-stage matches and a semi-final qualification can bump that number even higher.
A number of players in the Bangladesh World Cup squad are nearing multiple personal milestones and a lengthy World Cup campaign gives them an opportunity of achieving those feats in the grandest cricketing event.
200 ODIs for Sakib, Tamim
Sakib al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, who have featured in 198 and 193 one-day internationals for Bangladesh, will most likely play their 200th ODI in this World Cup given they can stay away from injuries.
They, however, won’t be the first Bangladeshi players to reach the feat as their skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Mushfiqur Rahim both have reached this milestone before them, Mushfiq playing in 205 matches and Mashrafee in 209.
6,000 ODI runs for Sakib
Sakib also has the chance of joining Tamim as the second Bangladeshi batsman in the 6,000 runs club, as the left-hander, who is currently Bangladesh’s highest run-getter in World Cup with 540 runs, requires another 283 runs to reach the milestone.
Sakib quickest to 5,000 runs and 250 wickets
The ace all-rounder was on the verge of reaching new heights with the ball also as the 32-year old needed one more wicket to claim 250 wickets in ODIs, which would make him the fastest all-rounder in cricket’s history to reach the rare double of 5,000 runs and 250 ODI wickets.
Only four players–Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya, completed this double before with Razzak being the quickest to reach the feat in 259 matches.
100 wickets as captain for Mashrafee
Skipper Mashrafee has the chance of cementing his place among all-time great captains of the game; as he is just three shy of claiming 100 ODI wickets as a skipper.
Only three skippers –Pakistan’s Imran Khan and Wasim Akram and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock – have previously claimed over 100 ODI wickets.
Mashrafee currently stands on fourth position in terms picking up wickets as an ODI skipper behind the aforementioned three players, with Akram leading the list with 158 wickets.
Mashrafee to captain Bangladesh in most World Cup matches
Mashrafee, who is set to become the first Bangladeshi to lead the side in two World Cups, has led his side in the show piece event in five matches till now, four less than former skipper Habibul Bashar.
The 35-year old pacer is set to overtake Bashar in that regards, given that he can maintain his fitness and avoid succumbing to any injuries.
A half century of fifties for Tamim
Tamim needs four more fifties to become the first Bangladeshi and the 26th player in ODI cricket to bring up 50 ODI fifties.
Tamim is the highest run-getter for Bangladesh with 6,636 runs in 193 matches with 46 fifties and 11 hundreds, most by any Bangladeshi batsman.
4,000 ODI runs for Mahmudullah
Mahmudullah, the remaining player in Bangladesh’s big five, has the chance to become the fourth Bangladeshi batsman to score over 4,000 ODI runs behind Tamim, Sakib and Mushfiq in the tournament as he required another 243 runs to do so.
100 ODI matches for Rubel
The hero with the ball in Bangladesh’s memorable triumph against England in the previous World Cup, Rubel Hossain, could become the 11th Bangladeshi player to play 100 ODIs if he features in at least three matches in the World Cup.
50 ODI matches for Mustafiz and Soumya
Out of the young guns in the current side, Mustafizur Rahman and Soumya Sarkar were nearing their own miniature feat, as they required four and six matches respectively to play their 50th ODI for Bangladesh.
100 ODI wickets for Mustafiz
The fate of Bangladesh’s pace attack in the competition heavily depends on the performance of Mustafiz and a stellar World Cup outing could propel the left-arm pacer to his 100 ODI wickets as he required another 17 wickets to reach the milestone.
Mustafiz also has a chance to match-up and even surpass Abdur Razzak as the bowler to take most five-wicket hauls in ODIs for Bangladesh as Mustafizur has taken three five-wicket hauls in his career so far, which is one less than Razzak.
Source: New Age.
