Shakib Al Hasan’s NPL career began the way his whole career has gone: a little bit of everything, and not quite enough to win the match. Fourteen runs, one wicket for 24, and a Pokhara Avengers defeat to Sudurpaschim Royals in his first game in Nepal’s league.
| Team | Pokhara Avengers |
| NPL 2026 matches | 1 — vs Sudurpaschim Royals (28 Oct) |
| Batting | 14 off 16 balls, one four |
| Bowling | 1/24 in 4 overs — dismissed Brandon McMullen lbw |
| Career T20 (before NPL) | 7,884 runs + 521 wickets in 483 matches |
| Team record | 0-1 — lost to Sudurpaschim by 6 wickets |
Shakib’s First NPL Match: A Bit of Everything
Pokhara Avengers batted first against Sudurpaschim Royals on 28 October and finished on 145 for 7. Mahedi Hasan made 32 off 21, captain Kushal Bhurtel added 21, and Arjun Gharti’s unbeaten 40 off 25 gave the total respectability. Shakib Al Hasan, batting in the middle order, made 14 off 16 balls with one boundary. It was a quiet innings by his standards — no acceleration, no late flourish, just a holding role while the innings was rebuilt around him.
With the ball, he was better. His four overs cost 24 runs and brought the wicket that mattered most at the time: Brandon McMullen, who was looking well set, trapped lbw. That is the Shakib skill in one dismissal — a left-arm spinner who does not need a turning pitch to beat a batter, just a small change of pace and angle. But one wicket was not enough to hold Sudurpaschim. Captain Dipendra Singh Airee and Ishan Pandey put together a 74-run partnership that took the game away; Mahedi broke the stand in the 16th over by trapping Pandey lbw for 37 off 31, but by then the chase was under control, and Sudurpaschim won by six wickets.
So the first match goes down as a bit of everything and not quite enough of anything: 14 runs, one wicket, one defeat. Nobody signs Shakib for one quiet game, though. They sign him for what he does across a tournament, and that is where this feature has to start — with the record he brought to Nepal.
The All-Rounder’s Job: Why Pokhara Signed Shakib
Shakib’s job in a T20 side is balance. He bats left-handed in the middle order and bowls left-arm spin through the middle overs, which means his captain effectively gets two players in one overseas slot: a batter who can rebuild or accelerate, and a bowler who can be trusted for four overs on any surface. That balance is why Pokhara built their overseas group around him, alongside fellow Bangladeshi Mahedi Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin, plus Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya Lakshan and Chamika Karunaratne.
He is also here for the whole campaign, which matters more than it sounds. In a short tournament with overseas players coming and going, a full-season all-rounder gives a team a settled shape: the same batting order, the same bowling plan, every game. Pokhara’s captain knows, from the first match to the last, that he has four overs of left-arm spin and a middle-order left-hander to call on. That certainty is worth almost as much as the wickets themselves.
Leadership is the other part. Shakib is a former Bangladesh captain who has spent nearly two decades reading T20 games from the inside — when to attack with spin, when to hold an over back, which batter to target. Pokhara are a young side in a league where Sudurpaschim have already reached both previous finals. Having a player who has seen every situation before is the kind of signing that shows up in close games, even when his own numbers look modest.
The Numbers Behind the Name: 7,884 Runs and 521 Wickets
Before this season, Shakib had scored 7,884 runs and taken 521 wickets in 483 T20 matches. Read that again, because it is the rarest combination in the format: nearly 8,000 runs and more than 500 wickets by the same player. Most all-rounders are really a batter who bowls a bit, or a bowler who bats a bit. Shakib is genuinely both, over a career long enough to prove it twice over.
At Kirtipur, that record should age well. The ground’s own pattern (even bounce early, grip and turn as the match wears on) suits a spinner who relies on control rather than mystery. Shakib does not bowl the ball that nobody can read; he bowls the ball that a batter reads a fraction too late. On a used surface in the second half of a tournament, where every team plays on the same square, that kind of bowling gets better, not worse. His 1/24 in the first match, on a fresh pitch, is the floor, not the ceiling.
Age is the honest question. Shakib is 39, and nobody at 39 moves the way they did at 29. What he has lost in athleticism he has to make up in anticipation: bowling the right ball first time, placing himself where the ball is going, and batting with placement rather than power. The first match showed both sides of that bargain — the clever McMullen dismissal, and a batting innings that never got going. The next few games will show which side is winning.
What Pokhara Need From Shakib Next
Match 9 against Janakpur Bolts on Sunday 1 November (5:00 PM NST) is the immediate assignment. Janakpur have already shown they can win ugly, chasing 116 against Kathmandu with Moeen Ali unbeaten on 58, so Pokhara cannot expect an easy first win. What they need from Shakib is a fuller game than the first one: something like 25 or more runs plus two wickets, the kind of two-discipline contribution that turns a close match instead of just featuring in it.
After Janakpur come Lumbini Lions on 3 November, Chitwan Rhinos on 6 November, and Karnali Yaks on 9 November. That is four games in eight days, all at Kirtipur, all on surfaces that will get slower and more tired as the tournament goes on. If there is a stretch of the season designed for a 39-year-old left-arm spinner with 521 T20 wickets, it is this one. The pitches will help him more with every match, and the batters facing him will be more tired with every game.
For now, the summary is simple: one quiet match, one defeat, and a record that says the best is still plausible. Pokhara did not sign Shakib for 14 runs and one wicket. They signed him for the tournament. Starting on Sunday, he has to show why.
FAQs
How has Shakib Al Hasan performed in NPL 2026 so far?
One match: 14 off 16 with the bat and 1/24 in four overs against Sudurpaschim Royals on 28 October. Pokhara lost by six wickets.
Which team does Shakib Al Hasan play for in NPL 2026?
Pokhara Avengers. He arrived in Nepal before the season and is with the franchise for the full campaign.
What is Shakib Al Hasan’s T20 career record?
Before NPL 2026: 7,884 runs and 521 wickets in 483 T20 matches, as one of the game’s great all-rounders.
When is Shakib’s next NPL match?
Pokhara Avengers vs Janakpur Bolts, Match 9, Sunday 1 November, 5:00 PM NST, at TU Ground, Kirtipur.
