Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan surprisingly bowled only six overs of the 90 on day three where Ireland just lost four wickets and batted all day in their one-off Test match in Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Thursday.
When questions were raised in the post-match press conference over whether there was any specific plan or reasoning behind Shakib's lack of action in the bowling attack, Tigers pace bowling coach Allan Donald admitted he has no idea why the Bangladesh captain did not bowl that much.
“I must admit, I have no idea. He seems fit. He came off a couple of times and just for like bathroom breaks. But I'm not quite sure. I think he wanted to maybe give the attack a chance to go and do the job but I really don't know why he hasn't bowled enough,” said Donald after day three's play.
"I thought the second new ball, when we took it, was going to be a big factor. And it honestly didn't spin that much like it did (Wednesday) night. I thought it was going be a new ball type of pitch, and once you get in on this wicket, you could score runs. But no, I'll leave that question you asked to Shakib (smiles),” he added.
Donald also believes the fact that Shakib did not bowl that many overs made a difference as Ireland fought back brilliantly and lost just four wickets, accumulating 131-run lead after day three's proceedings.
“Shakib does amazingly well as he shuts one end down. He's such an experienced campaigner, he varies his pace really smartly. Although there was no real turn all day long, I thought he would've been a guy that would control one end and really shut one end down," said Donald.
"But listen, I'll go back to the other guys as well. I thought (Mehedi Hasan) Miraz, Taijul (Islam), the three seamers tried their guts out. And it didn't quite happen. But (Friday) morning's a big morning. I mean, they are 130 runs ahead now if I'm correct. So, we got to go bang, bang quickly and get batting,” he concluded.
Shakib surprisingly also bowled just three overs in the first innings where Ireland were all out for 214 with the other left-arm spinner Taijul taking five wickets.
But Shakib started things off in Ireland's second innings and bowled brilliantly, bagging two wickets.
Shakib and Taijul's double strikes left Ireland 27/4 at the close of day two.
