Beating Australia just the start for new Bangladesh, believes Shakib

Shakib al Hasan believes Bangladesh's win over Australia is the new dawn for his team. Bangladesh sealed a thunderous win over the visitors by 20 runs on Wednesday (August 30). Shakib engineered the win with his all-round performance to grab the man of the match award but what seemed to satisfy him the most is the consistency they showed as a unit.

The win over England in the last Test match played in Dhaka was perhaps the beginning of a new look Bangladesh side while winning an away Test against Sri Lanka to mark their 100th match boosted their confidence and raised their self belief.

The defeat handed to Australia sends out a stern message - come and take notice of us. Shakib acknowledged this is just the start for a much more stronger Bangladesh side. "I think it that way," he gushed.

"I think the win against England gave us the confidence that we can make a comeback in Test cricket while the win against Sri Lanka was also important as no team, apart from India, had done well over there.

"The win was very important for us as beating Australia will always be something [special]. We were inspired because we have not played against them."

Shakib looked pumped up from the very beginning of the series and went on to say that they aim to win both Tests. He walked the talk and became the fourth bowler in the world to claim five wickets in an innings against every Test playing nation. And with his five wickets in the second innings, he also became only the second bowler to pick up a ten-wicket haul in 50th Test match after Richard Hadlee.

The allrounder, though, was quick to brush aside statement that he is one of the greats of the game. "I don't think it that way," Shakib said pointing out that he has still a long way to go
"Because my job is to contribute with both bat and ball that is what I try to do. It feels great to make some contribution behind this success and it [this feeling] always remains the crucial factor that keeps pushing me forward."

Shakib added that his wife, Umme Binte Shishir, remains his major inspiration and she did well to motivate him before coming out on the fourth morning. "Last night I was telling her in phone that it seems to be difficult to win the match when she replied she knows you can do it by just picking five wickets," he revealed.

"I was thinking it is right if I can get five wickets and other picks two or three wickets we can win as we needed eight wickets to win the game. A few minutes back she sent me a message that now I can go to sleep. These small things act as a huge source of inspiration for me."

Shakib also added that he wants to stick with his aggression despite having drawn a bit of criticism. He made an aggressive half century in the first innings but failed in the second innings and felt that is the best approach forward.

"I think aggression is important but it is difficult to carry as well," he said. "Yesterday when I got out surely there were some talks with my process. I want to carry on with this because having a positive frame of mind helps the team as well. All the times it will not work but most of the times you can expect to have success."

Source: Cricbuzz