Left-arm spinner Sakib al Hasan brushed aside any doubts about his bowling ability, returning to his best with a five-wicket haul against the New Zealand in the second Test match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday. Sakib picked up where he left off at close on Tuesday, inducing an edge from Ross Taylor (53) to Nasir Hossain at slip to pick up his fourth wicket of the innings in the fourth over of the morning.
He then completed his five-for courtesy another nick, as Doug Bracewell was caught behind by wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim on 17.
The ace all-rounder had been going through a rough patch with his bowling, while struggling with injury, but managed to produce a stellar performance to pick his 10th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
This was the first time Sakib had managed the feat in two years, with his last five-for coming against Pakistan in 2011 at this very ground before his bowling form started to dip.
Since then Sakib had played five Test matches and picked up just 12 wickets, raising questions about whether his various Twenty20 tournament commitment were taking a toll on his Test prospect. .
Sakib’s only Test action for Bangladesh in 2013 came in their tour of Zimbabwe, during which he looked rusty.
Sakib had not played a lot of cricket ahead of the current series. He turned out for the Caribbean Premier League in August, but a thumb injury incurred during that tournament restricted him to just one Dhaka Premier League game in September.
The first Test against New Zealand in Chittagong gave him little opportunity to justify his billing as the country’s premier all-rounder, as an injury restricted him to just 33 overs in two innings against the Kiwis, while Abdur Razzak bowled 87 and Sohag Gazi bowled 58.
The team management is in favour of increasing his workload gradually after an injury-plagued season saw him miss a number of Test and one-day matches.
‘I would be happy if I could do everything that I did earlier, but at the same time I must also look after my health. I am not enjoying bowling this little,’ Sakib said prior to the start of the second Test.
‘My bowling is alright, though I did not bowl a lot after the injury. Even in Zimbabwe I did not bowl a lot of overs and still I am not sure what will happen if I bowl a certain amount of overs,’ he added.
Sakib’s performances on days two and three bookended a strange episode
on Tuesday, when the former national captain felt he was insulted by authorities at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after entering the immigration area.
The all-rounder was seeing off his wife, who was travelling to India, but was rebuked sharply for entering the area reserved only for passengers.
-With New Age input
