The Bangladesh all-rounder and Fortune Barishal skipper lauded the local young guns thanks to their gleaming shows with the bat in the first phase of the ongoing ninth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League finished at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.  

Simultaneously, the Tigers' Test and T20 captain also expressed his disappointment toward the bowlers on the back of their below par performance in the competition.

‘Many of them [local campaigners] are playing well. If you take a look, Shanto, Jakir, and Hridoy are playing very well,’ said Shakib on Wednesday in a programme held by Yamaha in the city.

Sylhet Strikers top order batsman Tohid Hridoy, alongside his fellow colleagues Najmul Hossain Shanto and Zakir Hasan, and Rangpur Riders’ top order batsman Rony Taluldar, earned applause from the country’s cricket fraternity.

Hridoy, who scored three consecutive fifties in their four games, finished first in the points standings with 195 runs at an average of 65.00 and an impressive strike rate of 166.66, followed by Shanto with 167 runs at an average of 55.55 and a strike rate of 118.42.

And Rony Talukdar, who played in two first-phase ties, managed 107 runs to finish fourth with an average of 53.50 and an 181.43 strike rate, while Zakir Hasan had six, accounting for 100 from four games.

Meanwhile, the southpaw who denounced the Bangladesh Premier League Governing Council due to their several failures to make the country’s lone T20 competition more exciting and worthwhile praised the surface of the SBNCS.

'This season's pitches are very good. It was extremely surprising to find such quality wickets in Mirpur.Therefore we must applaud the curator.’