Bangladesh all-rounder and Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan bowled just six overs on Day 3 of the one-off Test against Ireland despite the visitors piling on the runs. The spinner got two wickets and conceded just one run in his first three overs on the day but in the remainder of the day, he bowled only three more.
He was not seemingly injured, which also left their fast-bowling coach Allan Donald puzzled. "I must admit I have no idea why he didn't bowl enough today," Donald said. "He seems fit. He came off a couple of times for bathroom breaks. I think maybe he wanted to give the attack a chance to do the job. [He bowled] 13 overs, for 2 for 20-odd.
He joined in the accolades for the veteran bowler as well, pointing out some of the things that made him a world-beater. "What Shakib does amazingly well is shut one end down. He is such an experienced campaigner, and varies his pace smartly, although there was no real turn all day long, I thought he would have been the guy that controlled one end.
His bowling compatriots in Mehidy Hasanmiraz and Taijul Islam also earned a lot of praise for their performance, with the latter taking as many many nine wickets in the
"I thought [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz, Taijul and the three seamers tried their guts out today. It didn't quite happen. I thought at some stage after lunch, especially when Tucker was in, we could have set a field where we could have maybe shut off one side of the ground a little bit more, make him hit through the off side a little bit more. That brings the outside edge into play.
"But I can't fault the hard work that these guys did today. It was one of the flattest wickets I've seen. And there's not a lot of life for the quicks in here, especially halfway down. And we've seen a couple of balls not carry to the keeper. But that's Test cricket. No one said it is easy. So I thought they ground out the day beautifully and yes, once again, one massive tick to Ireland. They fought hard today," Donald added.
At the end of Day 4, the Bangladeshis finally prevailed, dismissing their opponents for 292 runs and setting a target of 138 for the win. In the end, Mushfiqur Rahim (51*) and Tamim Iqbal (31) closed out a comprehensive victory for their side.
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