Veteran Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan may not have bowled as much as one would have hoped since the first Test against India is in Chennai, however, he is showing why he is still an important member of the side with the bat. Athar Ali Khan on air reckoned that Shakib may not be fully fit and hence bowled only 21 overs combined out of more than 155 bowled by Bangladesh across two innings. However, Shakib is repaying the management's faith with the bat.
Shakib played well for his 32 in the first innings and with Bangladesh chasing a daunting target of 515 runs, was able to keep the Indian bowlers at bay alongside skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto at least for the first hour but got out to R Ashwin after scoring 25 runs. However, many wondered what Shakib had in his mouth while batting.
On the second day, when Shakib walked out to bat it seemed like he had the extension of the helmet strap in his mouth. On Day 3 and Day 4 when he was batting in the second innings, he had the black thread in his mouth again and on Sunday, September 22 it was revealed by Dinesh Karthik on commentary that Shakib had tied a black thread to his shoulder and was biting onto it to not let his head fall over.
Was it in relation to his potential injury? That is unclear, however, Shakib was using that thread to keep his head still to be able to read the deliveries better with it being tied to his shoulder.
Shakib got starts in both innings, however, couldn't continue for long. Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto is still out there in the middle, batting on 71, but there's still a long way to go. For India, the victory seems inevitable given there are more than five sessions to be played and Bangladesh still need more than 300 runs.
