‘Mahmudullah played a special knock’ – Shakib

Never before has a player scored more than 30 and claimed five wickets in the same T20I, but Shakib has often broken new ground as an all-round cricketer of rare talent, and in scoring 42 not out and claiming 5/20 he did so again.

Unsurprisingly, he claimed the Player of the Match award, but he was at pains to clarify that this was far from a one-man show.

"We batted really well, with Liton giving us the start and Soumya continuing with it," Shakib said. "My partnership with [Mahmudullah] Riyad was very important. It would have been easy for us to lose the way, but that [partnership] gave us the 20-30 runs which turned out to be an extra strength. I think a 50-plus and a 75-plus partnership in a T20 ensures a win 80% of the time. Essentially, batting did the real job for us.”

Bangladesh finished on 211/4, their second-highest T20I score, but Shakib still felt they benefitted from a more measured approach. "The batsmen learned from the last game. When the ball was coming at 140kph, we were trying to hit them at 180kph. We used the pace well today and generally batted quite sensibly. It was the right game plan."

He reserved particular praise for Mahmudullah, who came in with Bangladesh 120/4, having lost 3/10, and wrested back momentum by striking boundaries of his first three balls. Mahmudullah finished with 43 off 21 balls. "My batting was important at that moment,” said Shakib. “If one of us had fallen then and had lost another [wicket] quickly, we wouldn't have reached such a big score. We were wary of a collapse when we lost three quick wickets.

“Riyad shifted the pressure at that point, so a lot of the credit goes to him. It made batting easier for me as I had to focus on rotating the strike and hit the bad ball for four.”

Shakib felt that an attacking approach suited his partner, and is one he could utilise in other formats. "He was playing a lot of shots, so building the innings became smoother. Riyad played a special knock.

"I think Riyad does well when he has a positive frame of mind. I might be wrong but I feel that he is wrong when trying to build his innings. Going after the bowling is more suitable, especially in T20s.

"Even in ODIs, if you look at his innings in Cardiff [in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017], he attacked from the start. Even in Tests, he could also try this approach so that he can get his body and feet moving."

Even if much of the job was done with the bat, the total still needed defending. Once again it was Shakib who stepped up. "I didn't think I would take a five-wicket haul in these conditions," he said. "Getting wickets is a matter of luck. I rate this bowling performance quite highly. I thought I bowled well.”