KHULNA. — Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh all-rounder, has said that he had set his eyes on achieving the double of a century and 10 wickets in a Test match a few weeks before the series against Zimbabwe and was “lucky” to get there in the second Test here.

Shakib scored 137 in Bangladesh’s first innings and then took 5 for 80 and 5 for 44 as the hosts routed Zimbabwe by 162 runs to claim the series.

He became the third Test cricketer after Ian Botham and Imran Khan, to achieve the milestone.

“I had my eye on this record ever since a journalist told me about it a few weeks ago,” Shakib said, after winning the Man-of-the-Match award.

“I was lucky and fortunate to have done it. This was not an easy wicket to bat on and the ball was turning a lot on the last day.

“I am glad to contribute to a series win, but it was a very good team effort. Hopefully we will continue to do well in future.”

Mushfiqur Rahm, the Bangladesh’s captain, also praised Shakib, calling the allrounder a “special player”.

He admitted, however, that the side still had to work on a few areas, going into the final Test in Chittagong.

“We needed the win and knew it was not going to be easy, the credit goes to all the boys. Shakib is a very special player,” Mushfiqur said.

“There was a big improvement in our batting from Tamim and Shakib. There are areas to improve, especially in our batting, and we’ll think about our tactics and work on them.

“It’s obvious both teams dropped many catches and we need to work on that. The team that misses less catches wins.

“We know why Shakib is special — with bat, ball and in the field — and all the young guys are inspired by him. I’m happy for the whole team and hopefully it will continue. (A) couple of areas where we need to improve and we want to win 3-0.” — Cricinfo

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