Australian bowling all-rounder James Faulkner has lauded Shakib Al Hasan with words of praises. The Bangladesh Test and T20I captain started his IPL career with Sunrisers Hyderabad with a bang, taking two wickets in his four overs after giving away only 23 runs.

His exceptionally tight bowling choked the Royals and allowed the others bowlers to go for the kill. In the end, Rajasthan Royals were bundled out for 125 runs, which Hyderabad chased down with 9 wickets in hand.

Speaking to Cricinfo in a post-match analysis show, James Faulker expressed his awe of the Bangladeshi and showered praises at his ability to deceiving the batters with his flight, control, and change of pace. He labeled him as one of the best players in the game due to his skillfulness.

"His stats speak for themselves tonight. To be able to bowl in the powerplay and go under 6 an over and the way he gets in and out of an over is crucial. He is regularly tucking up the right-hander and also deceiving them with flight outside off stump and you saw him tonight get a couple of wickets caught out there when batters looked to go downtown to score sixes off him.

“So he is very skillful and that's what makes him one of the better T20 players and one of the better all-rounders in world cricket.

"It's his pace and his line [that tricks the batsmen]. He is very good at holding back his pace in crucial moments. As I said, he is very skillful. If he can shut down one side of the ground - whether you are a spinner of a quick - you are going to have success in this format.”