After the first Test in Dhaka, Sakib al Hasan was told by a senior journalist that he only needs a century and 10 wickets in a single Test to join Ian Botham and Imran Khan to confirm his immorality as an all-rounder. Not a keen follower of cricket statistics, Sakib needed an explanation and he was told that in 137-year history of Test cricket only these two great all-rounders could achieve this feat.
Sakib was one of those all-rounders, who always had the potential to achieve it, but no one, including the journalist who informed it to him, could imagine that he would do it in the very next Test.
Yet, his journalist friend sent him a text message after his century in the first innings, stating that he had done the first part of his job and now he only needed 10 wickets to join Imran and Botham.
From that moment on, Sakib took a serious interest in the record and achieved it in his first opportunity, taking 5-80 and 5-44 in two innings’ to add them with his 137 runs in the first innings.
His exploits gave Bangladesh a pulsating 162-run win over Zimbabwe in the second Test on Friday, helping them to seal the three-match Test series with an unassailable 2-0 lead.
‘I had no idea earlier that there is something like this,’ Sakib said at the post-match press conference.
‘I was told by a journalist that there is a record and I just told him that I will keep it in my mind.’
‘The names [Botham and Imran] that you people are saying, are great players. It’s great to be with them, I have my name there which makes me feel good.’
‘But my job is to contribute for the team and perform as good as possible for my country,’ said Sakib, a team-man, who puts team’s interest above his individual performance.
Sakib said he was keen do something for the team in this Test after his comeback from a suspension was successfully completed in the first Test when he claimed six wickets in an innings.
Sakib laid out three conditions for Bangladesh to win this match once they went to the back foot after third day’s play and he himself led
the Tigers to fulfill at least two of them.
The Tigers claimed five wickets in one session to bring them back in the game on the fourth day and then set a 314-run target for Zimbabwe in two-and-a-half sessions.
Yet, they needed a special effort to dismiss Zimbabwe for the second time, which was Sakib’s third condition. The all-rounder led them from the front to grab five more wickets and accomplished the job.
‘Today’s five-wicket was very important,’ said Sakib. ‘They had only two-and-a-half session to bat out, which, if they could, the match would have ended in a draw. And it also was difficult to take wickets in this pitch. So, if we think that way it was important.’
-With New Age input
