While England off-spinner Graeme Swann is having the best phase of his career, Shakib Al Hasan is not far behind.
In Test match cricket, the left-arm spinner has had a splendid two years when he took 45 wickets at an average of 33.0 with a strike rate of 67.7.
He is followed by off-spinners Nathan Hauritz and Harbhajan Singh and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.
Shakib has also taken 25 wickets from 21 one-day matches since January 2009 against the top eight teams. Australian Hauritz has taken the most wickets (50) while Swann has the best average (24.29).
But in a list of spinners bowling in the middle overs (16th to 40th) in ODIs against the top eight teams during the same period, Shakib averages 40 and has taken just 13 wickets, though he has a good economy rate.
The good showing in the last two years has meant that Shakib has maintained his position in the top of the ICC ODI all-rounders’ ranking with 382 points, despite sharing the place with Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi for a while.
He’s also the second-best ODI bowler and Test all-rounder, according to the latest rankings.
