5 biggest match-winners for Bangladesh over the years

The Bangladesh cricket team has been the most improved side in world cricket over the past decade or so. From being regarded as pushovers to challenging the best in the business, the Tigers have surely come a long way.

By winning the 3^rd ODI of their recently concluded series against Afghanistan, the Bangladeshis reached the milestone of 100 victories in the format. Apart from this, the team has also won 7 Tests and 20 T20I matches over the years.

While a number of cricketers have made significant contributions to Bangladesh’s success, there are a few names who won matches for their team on a consistent basis. Here are the 5 biggest match-winners for the country in international cricket:

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#5 Mahmudullah

Mahmudullah has been one of Bangladesh’s best batsmen in the past few years

Bangladeshi middle-order batsman Mahmudullah may have been around for quite a while but his game has only evolved in the past couple of years. However, since then he has been highly consistent with his performance and has played an important role in many of his team’s wins.

The right-hander has a batting average of 44.85 in 57 ODI victories for Bangladesh, which is much higher than his overall average of just below 34. His match-winning century against England at Adelaide in the 2015 ICC World Cup is perhaps the brightest spot in the 30-year old’s career so far.

Mahmudullah has not been as effective in the other two formats of the game as he is in the 50-over version. To be fair to him, though, his team has also not enjoyed a lot of success in Tests and T20Is.

#4 Mushfiqur Rahim

Mushfiqur Rahim has been among the team’s top batsmen

Wicket-keeper batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has been one of the key players in the Bangladeshi batting line-up for at least a decade now. Rahim has been known for his significant contributions to the team’s cause and has won them quite a few matches across different formats.

The diminutive right-hander has played 162 ODIs in which he has scored nearly 4000 runs at an average of 31.15. This number increases quite substantially to 40.64 in 73 matches that Bangladesh have won with him featuring on the side.

It is a similar story for Rahim in Test cricket, where he averages 40.45 in victories compared to 32.31 overall, and T20Is as well, where this ratio is 18.83 as opposed to 17.57. Mushfiqur Rahim has also starred in some of his country’s famous wins including those over India and England in the 2007 and 2015 editions of the World Cup respectively.

#3 Mashrafe Mortaza

Apart from being a handy all-rounder, Mashrafe Mortaza has also thrived in the skipper’s role

Mashrafe Mortaza, the current captain of the Bangladesh cricket team, has been one of their best pacers over the years. While the 33-year old has played just 2 Tests, he has been a true match-winner for the Tigers in limited-overs cricket.

Mortaza has claimed 210 wickets in his ODI career so far and 118 of them have come in 71 victories for the Bangladeshi team. His average in matches won is a highly impressive 20.74 compared to his career figure of over 30.

In T20Is, too, Mashrafe Mortaza averages just 19.85 for his 20 wickets in 18 successful outings for his team whereas his career average is slightly under 36. Moreover, his best bowling performances in both formats have come in a winning cause.

#2 Tamim Iqbal

Tamim has been his team’s most prolific run-scorer across formats

Tamim Iqbal has been the biggest name in the Bangladeshi batting line-up for a long, long time now. The opening batsman has been amongst the runs in all three formats of the game and recently became the only cricketer from his country to score 9000 international runs.

Iqbal’s credentials as a match-winner for Bangladesh are difficult to parallel, particularly in ODI cricket. He has scored 2729 out of his 4948 career runs in matches won by his team at an average of over 44, which is several notches above his overall average of 32.33.

To add to it, 5 out of Tamim’s 7 ODI centuries have resulted in a victory for the Tigers. In the shortest format of the game, too, the southpaw averages nearly 40 in wins compared to a career average of just 24.55. The same applies in Tests as well with his overall figure of 39.46 swelling to 46.75 in matches won.

At the age of 27, Tamim Iqbal still has a lot of time on hand to lead Bangladesh to many more memorable victories in the future.

#1 Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan has been the greatest superstar for Bangladesh

If there is one man in the Bangladesh team who has been able to earn the tag of a superstar, it has to be Shakib Al Hasan. The spin-bowling all-rounder has been one of the pillars of his country’s cricket with both bat and ball, enjoying great success across all formats.

The Bangladeshis have won 74 matches with Shakib as a part of the team and he has a batting average almost 50 and a bowling average of 22.01 in these games. These numbers are far better compared to his career stats of 35.34 and 27.62 with bat and ball respectively.

Shakib Al Hasan has also been a rare success story for his team in the longer version with 550 runs at a great average of 50 in 6 Tests won by Bangladesh as opposed to 39.76 in his career. He has been even better in the bowling department with 35 wickets at 19.74 in contrast to an overall average of more than 33.

His T20I record, too, is quite outstanding in Bangladeshi wins with figures of 32.33 with the bat and 16 with the ball against 23.97 and 20.33 in all matches. Shakib is only 29 years old currently and has every chance of carving his own niche in the history of the game.