Sensational Shakib original stuns Australia

Shakib Al Hasan’s blockbuster allround show against Australia has made sure that his 50th Test appearance stays vivid in the memories of fans and opponents alike in years to come.

His back-to-back five-wicket hauls, propped up by his half-century, formed the cornerstone of Bangladesh’s fight against the Aussies in the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

He dragged the Tigers back on their feet on Wednesday with quick strikes as the hosts carved a famous 20-run win over their opponents in baggy green caps.

In the first innings of the Mirpur Test, Shakib cracked a crucial 84 before bagging 5-62 to sign up beside rare elites with the feat of achieving five-wicket hauls against the nine other top Test teams.

And with his 5-85 in the second innings on Wednesday, he became the first cricketer to mark his 50th Test by grabbing 10 wickets along with a half-century in one of the innings.

Many cricketers have smashed half-centuries in the 50th Test. But only four others bagged 10 wickets in it -- England’s Trevor Bailey, New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan and India’s Harbhajan Singh – but none of them made a half-century.

It does not end there.

It also doubled his feat of smashing a half-century and grabbing 10 wickets in a Test match, and he joined Hadlee as only the second cricketer to achieve the feat more than once. The New Zealand great pulled the feat off thrice.

Adjudged best player of the game, Shakib also became the first Bangladesh bowler to claim 10 wickets in a Test twice.

It is the sixth time he has been awarded Man-of-the-Match award in the illustrious format while no other Bangladesh players has received it even four times.

Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammed Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal got it three times each.