Ace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan registered his 19th Test five-wicket haul in the ongoing second and final match of the series against Sri Lanka at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Shakib recorded the feat before yet another top-order batting disaster as his effort was marred by Bangladesh losing four early wickets for only 34 runs after Sri Lanka got a 141-run first-innings lead.
He started the day with three for 59 and bagged two more wickets in Niroshan Dickwella [nine] and Praveen Jayawickrama [nought] in the tail to achieve the milestone.
Shakib had last registered the feat in 2018 and has the most – three times – against the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
The star Bangladesh cricketer has registered this feat against all Test playing nations except Afghanistan till date.
Shakib at the post day press conference informed that he had no set plans.
There was a general discussion if Shakib had enough preparation ahead of the Test to which the left-arm all-rounder has his own theory.
“There was no plan. I think no bowler comes with a lot of plans in Test cricket. The main job for a bowler [in Test] is to bowl in the right areas. Assistance from the wicket works as an added advantage,” said Shakib to the media Thursday.
“It is tough to say I was well prepared ahead of the game. Bowling is one area where I am always confident. There might be one or two occasions when I was uncomfortable. I think the four games [in Dhaka Premier League] was enough preparation for me. I believe after having played for so many years a 10 or 15-day conditioning come is not always necessary. Four of five practice sessions become enough. There was very little time ahead of this series, usually for me three sessions are enough and if not in game, then a bit more of practice. You don’t need more than this rather it becomes important to work purposefully,” said Shakib.
Going into the fifth day of the game, Bangladesh are in an uncomfortable state.
They have lost four top-order batters and trailed by 107 runs and can sense their opposition stand in sight of a Test and series victory.
The first Test of the series – in Chittagong – had finished in a draw.
Shakib believes similar batting effort that was seen from Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das in the first innings is the only way to save this game.
Bangladesh were in similar situation in the first innings of the game but Mushfiq and Liton scored centuries and put up a record sixth-wicket partnership to help post 365 from 24 for five.
“The situation is tough [for Bangladesh]. The wicket is not tough to bat on but the players might be tired coming into the fourth day of the game and having fielded for almost two days. We have not been able to handle the pressure and we have been dealing with this issue for some time now. It happened when I was not in the [Test] team. We have failed many times in the second innings in the recent past. We had this area to work on,” Shakib explained.
“We failed again [Thursday]. But the game has not finished yet so it is not right to say it has finished before it is finished,” he added.