Feature

Seeking DRS, and Tamim the entertainer

The Plays of the day from the second day of the Mirpur Test between Bangladesh and West Indies

Bangladesh couldn't capitalise on the one chance Shivnarine Chanderpaul provided  •  AFP

Bangladesh couldn't capitalise on the one chance Shivnarine Chanderpaul provided  •  AFP

The signal
Shakib Al Hasan spent most of the morning under his floppy hat, pulled down, with little to do. He came into the picture at the end of the 110th over, when Shahadat Hossain appealed loudly after his short delivery hit Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the shoulder and was caught at slip. Shakib appeared to be asking for a referral to the third umpire by using the signal for a DRS ruling, but it wasn't as if he didn't know the system wasn't in use. The broadcasters usually haven't made it available in Bangladesh, a point Shakib had noted two years ago during the England series.
The chance
In the final 15 minutes of the first day, Chanderpaul chipped one towards mid-off on the first day which Shahadat couldn't reach. He offered a chance much earlier on the second day, in the 13th over of the morning, but Bangladesh's specialist slip fielder, Junaid Siddique, couldn't reach the edge that popped up off Sohag Gazi. It remained the only chance offered by Chanderpaul all day.
The slip
Tamim Iqbal bowled the fifth over of his 25-Test career on the second day, but will probably have to wait a while for his next one after an erratic performance. The first two deliveries were down the leg side and then he sent one virtually off the pitch. It was called a wide, as the ball looped to the wicketkeeper on the half-volley. It probably slipped out of his hand, but Tamim managed to correct himself and the rest of the over was largely incident-free.
The counter-attack
Tamim smashed Tino Best for four boundaries in the sixth over of the innings, patting one away through midwicket, then two drives, one straight and another through the covers, before finishing it off with an authoritative pull-shot. It appeared to inspire Shahriar Nafees, the man at the other end. Off a short ball from Ravi Rampaul, who had already bounced out Junaid Siddique, Nafees smashed one high over midwicket. The doubts over his ability to deal with the short stuff was momentarily shelved as he went on to smash three more boundaries, but fell to another short ball from the same bowler who beat him for pace.
The self-destruction
It was a wide, short ball that Tamim tried to pull towards the leg side, but flapped it straight to Sunil Narine at mid-on, after rattling to 72 in the final session of the day. He had survived a similar, tennis-like shot off the last ball of Sammy's previous over when his attempt to flat-bat one towards mid-on fell short of Best at mid-on. He regretted the shot later on, but Bangladesh are by now used to such suicidal strokes by their batsmen.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's correspondent in Bangladesh