Nine wickets left to play with on a fifth-day pitch. It had mostly been unresponsive to spin - not unexpectedly, since Pakistan, more aware of conditions in Rawalpindi, didn't pick even one frontline spinner in their XI. But what Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz did in the three hours that followed put all predictions to waste. Mehidy topped his first-innings fifty with a four-wicket haul, but it was Shakib's early blows that prised open Pakistan's gate of misery. It was a show of left-arm spin mastery, what we have come to expect of Shakib but see so little of these days.
It wasn't just the mastery over his craft, but also over the circumstances.
There was a murder charge in the air. Sure, not directly implicating him, but it was there. And there was talk that he would be withdrawn from the tour.
It couldn't have been easy, but Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto suggested that Shakib has the ability to compartmentalise his life and career so well that he can come out to the field with only cricket on his mind. Thus came the wickets of Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique and, later, Naseem Shah.
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It hasn't been a great few weeks for Shakib. During the student-led protests in Bangladesh, Shakib, a member of parliament of the now-overthrown Awami League government, argued with fans in Brampton when confronted over his silence on the developments. This was when Shakib was playing in the Global T20 Canada league while there were protests going on back home.
Shakib hasn't been to Bangladesh since. He went from Canada to Pakistan to join the Test team. On Sunday in Rawalpindi, when he sent back Naseem, he became the highest wicket-taker among left-arm spinners in international cricket.
They might still be expecting Shakib the politician to speak on the upheaval back home, but Shakib the cricketer certainly reached another high, this time leading his side to a rare Test win overseas.
He started the fifth day in Rawalpindi with a disciplined line of attack, at the stumps, before deceiving Shakeel with flight, sending the ball well outside off stump as the left-hand batter gave him the charge, Litton Das completing the stumping.
Shafique was kept tied up with plenty of dot balls before he, too, jumped out of the crease, and top-edged a swing, to be caught at backward point.
Both were wonderful deliveries - there was flight, dip and slight turn, and smart lines.
Shakib hadn't bowled like this in a while. T20s have - or had - reduced him to a dart bowler, one who just aims at bowling full, ideally under the bat, to get away with a decent economy rate. That's what he did in the first innings in Rawalpindi - quick and full. Mohammad Rizwan attacked him, while Shakeel stepped into drives quite frequently.
There used to be a body rotation at the moment of release that Shakib had mastered, but a more open-chested action - blame T20s - meant that the famous Shakib twist of the front toe was mostly missing.
The second innings was a different affair altogether. He was visibly slower through the air, and his action was just that little bit slower too. At his release point, Shakib was quite clearly trying to work the ball with his fingers, rather than sliding them out or darting them into the batters' pads. And in no time, he had broken the back of Pakistan's batting, before Mehidy ran through the tail.
It was a comeback of sorts from a cricketer who had become a peripheral figure in the Bangladesh Test side in the last seven years. Shakib has skipped many Test tours since September 2017. The ICC ban kept him out for three Tests, but the rest were voluntary. So, when Shakib informed the BCB a few weeks ago that he would be available for Bangladesh's eight remaining Tests in the current WTC cycle, it was a bit of a surprise.
Heading into the Test match, the team might have expected more from Shakib the batter than Shakib the bowler. He missed out with the bat the only time he batted. Instead, Shakib bowled 44 overs in the game, the most in an overseas Test (except against Zimbabwe) for six years. In Rawalpindi, it was a different Shakib, and a different Bangladesh, who didn't give into pressure before and during the game as they often have in the past.
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As he completes 17 years in international cricket, Shakib has ticked more boxes than he hasn't as a cricketer. He is a bona fide legend of the game. The Rawalpindi performance also drove home the point that he has that rare ability to master adversity in a way few can.
Perhaps it is now time for Shakib to speak about the death of scores of students and others at home. His silence during the July revolution can be explained away as duty as a politician. His disconnect with his country was also exposed when he asked the fan in Brampton, "What have you done for your country?" It was mean-spirited. Now, he has the opportunity to change that. Connect with his people. Change tact.
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