Shakib Al Hasan credits wife for his incredible performance

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan pulled out some incredible tricks from his kitty to decimate the mighty Australians single-handedly on the penultimate day of the first Test to guide the Tigers to a historic win today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. The all-rounder claimed five wickets in each inning to mark his second ten-wicket haul in Test matches and scored 89 with the willow in the first innings to turn tables from Australia’s comfortable 158/2 in their chase of 265 runs. With the remarkable 20 runs win in Mirpur, the hosts now are one up in the two-Test series.

Resuming 4th day’s play on Wednesday morning, Australia were just 156 runs away from victory while the Tigers faced an uphill task, needing 8 more wickets to win the match. The visitors looked comfortably poised for a win after the first hour’s play with Steve Smith and David Warner carrying the hopes along. However, it was Shakib who destroyed all foreign expectations as he picked up yet another 5-wicket haul.

In the process, he also became the first cricketer in Test history to score 80 plus runs in an innings and pick up 10 wickets in a match – twice. Shakib was adjudged the Man of the Match for his exemplary performance and received USD 1,500 and a crest.

Shakib in awe of his wife

Speaking in the post match presentation, Shakib said, “Thanks a lot for coming to watch the match. We were not in a good position at the start of the day’s play. Still, you came, because you had the belief in us. And this belief helped us big way to take inspiration and win the game.”

He then went on to add, “Now I would like to share a personal experience with you. Yesterday evening, I was speaking to my wife and said maybe the match was slipping away from our hand. But she told me, if anyone can win Bangladesh the match from here, it’s you!”