The value of 50s
The tally of one hundred Test matches combined between Bangladesh stalwarts Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal had a telling impact on the first day of the first Test against Australia as the two experienced campaigners displayed why they are the two most talked about cricketers in the history of Bangladesh cricket.
Expectations were sky high when they stepped onto the ground on their 50th Test match for the nation, with the hosts in dire straits after having elected to bat first.
Bangladesh were reeling at 10 for three inside four overs, with Tamim at one end, when Shakib came to the crease. The pair started to repair the damage and, more importantly, started to dominate the opposition.
Both left-handers reached their fifties and the bond these two cricketers showed hardly reflected the fact that they have only had five partnerships in their ten-year-plus Test career.
The responsibility, maturity, ability to absorb the pressure and counter-attack against a team like Australia, that too while recovering from a difficult position, to surpass their previous best partnership of 132 runs against Zimbabwe back in November 2014 was just nothing but a true reflection of the experience of the dynamic duo.
However, the belief in each other did not come from those five partnerships but from the bond in the dressing room and of course from playing for the country together for nearly a decade.
Tamim was the first to depart after reaching his 23rd fifty. He scored a patient 144-ball 71, which featured five fours and three sixes, and his departure broke the highest partnership of the innings of 155 runs.
Shakib, meanwhile, was inching towards his sixth Test hundred when a Nathan Lyon delivery popped up, taking the edge and carrying to the slip fielder after he had raced on to 84 with 11 fours.
"It was quite challenging to bat out there. I think Tamim and I applied ourselves. It was an important partnership," Shakib said at the post-day press conference in Mirpur. "We may be in the driving seat but we need to take seven more wickets. They [Australia] have some batting left too, so we have to focus well. Every day gives you a new situation in Test cricket."
"We don't really talk that much. We just kept batting for as long as possible. The job was slightly easier for us since we are quite experienced now. This is our 50th Test. We were batting well in the second session but those two deliveries kicked on us, costing us the wickets," Shakib added.
After the departure of the 30-year-old, the home side had to face the music from the Aussie bowlers. However, Nasir Hossain and Mehedi Hasan tried to consolidate until the latter was controversially given out, adjudged to have nicked it to short leg, with no reviews remaining.
Shakib opined that it was a tough call from the umpire and had the review been available things would have been different for the home side.
"It is quite important because Miraz wasn't out. If he had that review left, his partnership with Nasir could have been extended. They were batting well together," he said.
According to the number one all-rounder, the pitches in Bangladesh are different from the other sub-continental countries like India and Sri Lanka.
The southpaw termed Aussie skipper Steve Smith, who is still at the crease, as the biggest threat for Bangladesh and said that it will be crucial to bowl in the right areas to dismiss the visitors.