89* vs Rangpur Shakib's 'best-ever knock', says Barishal assistant coach

Shakib Al Hasan has been in prime form with the bat in the ongoing BPL for Fortune Barishal. The southpaw is leading them from the front with 275 runs - the most by anyone so far - at 92. The strike-rate is close to 200 as well. He went big in four out of five innings so far. Shakib played his career-best knock in T20s in the fifth game (89* off 43). Barishal assistant coach Mizanur Rahman Babul said it was the "best knock of his life".

Mizanur said that he has never seen Shakib bat so well before. "I told Shakib before the previous game that [89*] was his best-ever innings. If I take the situation into account, I have never seen him bat so well."

"He batted excellently in the next match as well [30 off 17]. He is leading the team well. The way he motivated the team after the loss in the first game was exemplary. If a captain leads like this, the team automatically does well."

Although Shakib is in blistering form, he doesn't train as much as the others. Mizanur said, "Those who play international cricket regularly need more rest [than practice] to stay fresh."

"Shakib doesn't repeat things [after big innings]. You see from outside that he doesn't train. But there are a lot of things apart from practice that he does in practice," he said.