Mashrafe honored Shakib with his hat open

After a period of waiting, Shakib Al Hasan returned to form with an unbeaten 64-run innings, helping Bangladesh post a total of 159 runs on the scoreboard. On a day that brought relief to both Shakib and his fans, Bangladesh secured a thrilling 25-run victory over the Netherlands. Despite not taking any wickets, Shakib was awarded the Player of the Match for his significant contribution with the bat. This victory strengthened Bangladesh's position on the path to the Super Eight, placing them second on the points table with two wins from three matches.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, a former captain of Bangladesh, expressed his admiration for Shakib in a Facebook post after the match:

"Playing as the captain of Bangladesh, I had my first Test match at this ground in St. Vincent. I scored about 38 or 40 runs in the first innings and bowled 6 overs before getting injured and not bowling again. Despite that, we won the Test match, with Riyad taking 6 wickets in the second innings. That was my last Test match, and I returned to the team about eight months later after surgery.

It was 2008, and Shakib took over the captaincy afterward. Today, Shakib once again led the team with a brilliant innings, batting until the end, which allowed us to post a big score. Riyad and Zaker also did what was needed according to the situation.

The entire team performed brilliantly with the ball as well. Day by day, Rishad is becoming a reliable player, and Mustafiz, Tanzim, and Shakib were exceptional. Taskin deserves special mention; over the past two years in this format, he has arguably been among the best in the world, second only to Bumrah.

This World Cup is a huge opportunity for us. Playing on such slow wickets, which we always hope for, welcomes us to the top eight. Now our real World Cup begins. On these wickets, no team is the best. If we keep believing, we can achieve great things.

Hats off to Shakib, and congratulations to the entire team. Big, big relief."

In the match against the Netherlands, Bangladesh built a strong foundation with the partnership between Shakib and Tanzid Tamim. However, the Dutch bowlers consistently took wickets, preventing Bangladesh from running away with the match. Mahmudullah Riyad provided excellent support to Shakib in the middle order, and Zaker Ali played a crucial cameo at the end.