Shakib named Wisden Test Player of the Year ahead of Gambhir

London:

The 22-year old Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been named The Wisden Cricketer magazine's 2009 World Test Player of the Year.

The magazine said on Thursday that Shakib topped the performance table of all test players based on marks awarded by Wisden Cricketer correspondents.

Shakib averaged 7.94 out of 10 for each of the eight Tests he played between the beginning of September 2008 and the end of August 09.

Little-known outside of his home country, Shakib took 45 wickets at 23 with his left-arm spin, including five five-fors, plus 498 runs at 35.57, performances that placed him ahead of stellar names such as Gautam Gambhir, Graeme Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Jaques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Dale Steyn and Andrew Strauss.

Reflecting on his achievement, Shakib said: "I guess I owe my performance to keeping things simple. I don't lose sleep over disappointments and rather look ahead to seize the next opportunity. I have been a performer and I work hard at my game to become the best cricketer I can be. Getting recognised by The Wisden Cricketer is the pinnacle of individual recognition as far as I am concerned," he said.