Shakib Al Hasan further cemented his place as one of the finest players to play for Bangladesh as the world number one all-rounder starred with both bat and ball to fire the Tigers to a historic Test win over Australia. The hosts defeated Australia by 20 runs to go 1-0 up in the 2-Test series.

Chasing 265 on a tricky track, Steve Smith & Co. were looking destined to win the game after David Warner’s brilliant knock of 112. The team from Down Under was cruising with the scoreboard reading 158 for 2 before Shakib turned the match on its head by dismissing Warner and opposition captain Steve Smith in quick succession to leave the tourists reeling at 171 for 4. The left-arm spinner was not done yet and sent back Matthew Wade too to all but seal Australia’s fortunes. Pat Cummins tried his best to take Australia to an unlikely win but his heroic 33-run knock went in vain as he ended up standing on the non-striker’s end, watching his partner Josh Hazlewood being dismissed by Taijul Islam.

Shakib finished the innings with the figures of 5 for 85 in the second innings. Prior to that, he had taken 5 for 68 in addition to scoring 84 runs in the first innings as he became only the second player after Richard Hadlee to score half-century & take 10 wickets in a Test more than once. Shakib was adjudged the Man of the Match for his all-round display.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the 30-year old expressed his delight over his contribution in the win, saying:

“It feels great to contribute to the team. Takes the mic and thanks the crowd for support and for the faith they have showed in the team (loosely translated from Bengali).”

After that, he took the mic and thanked the crowd for the support in Bengali as the huge home crowd including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina applauded the players for the historic win.