Shakib Al Hasan will be holding the hopes of an entire nation of his shoulders when he leads his Bangladesh side out for their opening game of the World Cup against India. As one of the host nations Bangladesh will be hoping their much improved side can push on from their sixth place finish in the 2007 tournament after reaching the second round.
One of the main reasons behind the Tigers relative success in 2007 was all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who has been named this year's skipper. Four years ago Hasan was the man of the match in the famous defeat of India, after his Bond-like calmness meant he kept his cool and scored a match winning half-century. His ODI record is as good as any Bangladeshi player in recent times, with five centuries and 17 half-centuries. Anyone looking at the cricket online betting will know that Bangladesh won't be able to win the tournament, but they will be hopeful of upsetting at least one of the favourites.
Hasan has also shown his ability with the ball, taking 129 ODI wickets with his slow left-arm deliveries at an average of less than 30. Shakib's bowling will be a important part of Bangladesh's chances in a tournament with spin expected to play such a major role. The biggest shock about Hasan is that he is still pretty much just starting out in the game and at 23 there is much more to come from this talented all-rounder.
Bangladesh will be expected to pick up at least two wins in the group stage against Ireland and Holland but the host will also be looking at the West Indies game as a winnable one and England on current form could also find the Tigers are very capable of springing a surprise result in front of their passionate fans.
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