Shakib struck the ball with ease and more importantly, knew the gaps as if he had them memorized. His swift footwork, both while meeting the flighted ball or when he darted between the wickets was refreshing for supporters who have witnessed slow batting every time wickets fell in succession.

A scoop was his first scoring shot when one considers that he mostly plays, and played, cultured shots all through his innings. He kept Javed on his toes for most of their 107-run stand as the two batsmen, with a massive age gap, made the Indians suffer in the sweltering heat.

After skipper Habibul Bashar needlessly chipped the ball straight at mid-on off Ramesh Powar for a duck, Bangladesh almost gave away a solid start as they slipped to 78 for two from the comfortable 78 for none.

Far from halting the progress of the Bangladesh innings, the 20-year-old left-hander kept the run-rate almost at par with the opening pair.

He hurried the Indian fieldsmen who were looking for a breather after they got rid of the rampant Tamim Iqbal. Quick singles from the range of short third-man to the covers and all the way across to the short fine-leg region was aplenty as he ran for himself and for batting partner Javed. The boy ran ragged.

But all this must have gone unnoticed as everyone were more focussed on Javed's surprising effort. Javed struck the big hits and cleared the infield (uncharacteristically) but it was Shakib who re-laid the foundation for the batsmen to follow. Javed struck two sixes over long-off and deep mid-wicket but Shakib took charge of the situation quickly as he milked the spinners in the next few overs.

He took 29 singles, five twos and a three in his knock of 68 balls that spanned one and a half hour. And 28 runs off his 50 came on the off-side.

For a man who has not played a single Test match due to the quirks of international scheduling, Shakib seems to know his own batting quite well. Apart from working the gaps, his scoop shot, albeit bordering on the insanity at that moment, went to show his level of confidence.

After the break, Shakib took a brilliant diving catch to get rid of Virender Sehwag in the seventh over and typically, picked up two crucial wickets that almost won Bangladesh the match.

Had it not been for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik's brilliance, Shakib would have coolly walked away with the best player award because had it not been for the partnership, Bangladesh would have won, having banked on Shakib's crucial 50.