Bangladesh ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan played down any individual battle against Ravichandran Ashwin, insisting that both of them strive for excellence only for the team’s cause.

The comparison between the two was understandable ahead of the historic Test match, considering both of them ranked No. 1 and 2 all-rounders in the world at the moment.
“There is no competition,” Shakib told Cricinfo in Hyderabad, where the Test will be played from February 9. “I do not think of it that way nor does he. In fact I think no one thinks of it that way. He is doing well from his place and I am trying to do well at my end. The better I do the more help the team gets. The importance of a player differs from team to team. I will be happy if I get to contribute for my team in the role I am in.
“He [Ashwin] has been bowling really well for India for the last 2-3 years. The control makes him different. He does whatever he wants to do with the ball. If you can do that, you don’t need to do anything else as a bowler. His control and the confidence makes him the No 1 bowler at the moment.”
Shakib topped the list of ICC all-rounder ranking for 767 days before Ashwin toppled him, showing an extraordinary performance. Primarily a bowling all-rounder, Ashwin has recently honed the batting skill and scored four Test centuries, as many as Shakib got.
Shakib however also is in the peak of his career at the moment.
Unlike Ashwin, Shakib has been the genuine all-rounder ever since he made his debut in the national colour. He struck a brilliant double century in the New Zealand tour to show his credential further and this came at a moment when most of the people were in doubt about his batting ability for a long time in longer version cricket.
Despite the emergence of Mehedi Hasan Miraj, Shakib still remains the No. 1 spin bowler of the side and the nation’s hope rest on him to deliver in India.
A spell from him can change the course of a game while a typically rapid innings can help set up big scores for Bangladesh. Both happened in New Zealand but neither performance translated to a better result for the team, as they lost both Tests. “It is a challenge for everyone,” Shakib said. “Say, you score 250 runs and your bowlers do well, then 250 runs is lot of runs. But then you score 500 runs, but your bowlers give away that many runs.
So the team can perform well only when everyone contributes. The team cannot win depending on one particular department. In New Zealand it so happened that one day we batted well and the other day we bowled well – but there was no joint contribution.”
He stressed on the collective responsibility of individuals to ensure the team performed as a single unit. “Everyone has a contribution in it, even those who were new. The responsibility is everyone’s,” he said, emphasising on the last word.
The premier all-rounder also talked about India captain Virat Kohli, arguably the best batsman of the world and the form he has been of late, for Bangladesh, he could pose a great danger.
Kohli so far played only Test against Bangladesh, scoring 14 runs. This time, he would hungry to get a big one, Shakib thinks.
“He is very aggressive batsman. He is a successful captain and he has the great passion. The way he was batting, he appeared to have been unbeatable. We have to work hard to get him.”