Shakib given ball as part of a plan

It raised a few eyebrows when in the 120th over of Zimbabwe's first innings Shakib Al Hasan ran in to bowl for the first time. Before the tour it was said by the team management that the all-rounder, recovering from a shin bone injury, would only bowl in the second Test. On the eve of the match however, coach Shane Jurgensen said that Shakib would bowl in the match if needed.
The general impression was that Zimbabwe, then in the middle of a 115-run seventh wicket partnership between centurion Brendan Taylor and Graeme Cremer, had forced the Tigers' hand. But the team's physiotherapist Vibhav Singh later revealed that Shakib bowling the seven overs was pre-planned and discussed during the pre-play warm-up as part of the left-arm spinner's rehabilitation process.
"[Spin-bowling coach] Saqlain Mushtaq and myself decided that Shakib should bowl a few overs in a match situation before he starts full time bowling from the second Test," said Vibhav. "If you noticed, he bowled with a shorter and slower run-up, so it was part of his rehabilitation process. He would have had to bowl in the nets anyway so it was better that he bowled in the match. After his sixth over he looked at me in the dressing room and signalled that he was okay to bowl one more over, and I said that he could."