Bangladesh completed a 2-0 sweep of the West Indies inside three days in Dhaka on Sunday, recording their first ever victory by an innings in the second Test.
The Caribbean side recorded a few other unwanted records during the match, becoming the first side to be asked to follow-on by Bangladesh after a first innings total of 111 in Dhaka — the lowest Test score ever recorded against Bangladesh.
It was exactly the response Shakib said he had expected from his team after losing two Tests in the West Indies in July — by an innings and 219 runs, and by 166 runs.
Bangladesh were bowled out for 43 in the first innings in Antigua’s series opener, their lowest in any Test.
“I think everyone who was in West Indies did not expect that kind of performance,” Shakib told reporters after second Test win on Sunday.
“This is why we wanted to do something. So that people don’t get us wrong. They took their home advantage, we took ours.
“To be frank, I was very demanding in this series. I was looking for an extra effort from all. We had a point to prove after losing that way,” said Shakib.
While West Indies had relied on the swing and pace of seamers, the Tigers used their spin-quartet to exact revenge.
Bangladesh’s four spinners — Shakib, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam and Nayeem Hasan — accounted for all 40 wickets, a record for a Test series in Bangladesh.
The win in the second Test was “special” to Shakib because it saw the twin firsts of forcing the follow-on and an innings victory. In previous 111 Tests Bangladesh had more often been on the receiving end of such drubbings, suffering defeat by an innings 38 times and following-on 15 times.
“You see we played over 100 Tests. For the first time we did this (enforcing a follow-on), of course this is special,” said Shakib.
“We have been playing Test cricket for 18 years. In the meantime we also played against a few smaller teams, but we could not do that. So I think it’s a big achievement,” he added.
The West Indies will also play three one-day internationals and three twenty20 internationals during their month-long tour of Bangladesh.
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