Shakib savours 'huge victory'

Shakib Al Hasan couldn't keep his emotion in check after it was all over. He and his side have been through a lot over the last week, and they desperately needed a win. The fashion that desperately needed win came in, following twists and turns every step of the way, would have left the toughest of men exhausted, and Shakib is not one of the best at hiding his feelings, be it about his critics or underperforming or unfit players. Or be it after a special win.

"It's not a normal win," Shakib said. "Obviously if you look at the situation, and the whole scenario of Bangladesh, it is a huge victory for us. And for the whole nation I think. Not really [an emotional win], although I became a little bit emotional at one stage. Some of the boys showed their character, how tough they are, how hard they can work. So that paid off."

It started with all their bowlers coming together and putting on a special show to restrict England to 225. Then the batsmen cut out the mistakes of the past, put their heads down, and didn't go for the easy option of playing flashy shots camouflaged as an attempt to counterattack. Shakib said they have been trying to bring that element into their game without really losing out on the intent. "We knew that if we have to win games, we have to score runs, so we are always score runs. Yes, you can say that we are a bit more careful in our shot selection."

Yet England came back superbly with some excellent bowling in the middle overs to leave Bangladesh 169 for 8. Some poor running from Bangladesh didn't help, either, and Shakib sees room for improvement. "At one stage, when me and Imrul [Kayes, Man of the Match for his 60] were batting, I thought we were going really well," he said. "There were some silly mistakes, like the two run-outs that could have cost us the game. My wicket was crucial too. It wasn't the time to play that shot. Hopefully we will learn from those mistakes. One thing we can learn is, whoever gets in should score big runs. Not 30s and 40s."

That said, Shakib admitted to having given up hope even though Mahmudullah and Shafiul Islam hadn't. "I thought we had lost the game," Shakib said. "When Riyad hit the winning shot, I still couldn't believe we had won the game. It took me some time to realise that, yes, we had won. I was lying down on the physio bed and watching the game. I Was having a chat with Tamim [Iqbal] and [Abdur] Razzak how badly we all played. We were just discussing our game, and having a chat."

Shakib added the win reiterated his belief in the team, and that the positive noises before the game came out of genuine confidence in the side's ability of coming back. "Yes, I always have the belief in my team," he said. "We have really good guys who are honest about their work, they can work really hard, day in, day out. If you have a bunch of guys like we have, we will always have the belief we can come back from any situation."