Shakib Al Hasan’s participation in the two test matches against Pakistan sparked protests in his own country because of his political ties to a dissolved party.

Despite this scenario, the left-hander took three crucial wickets and Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s 4-21 to help the Tigers to a historic 10-wicket victory over Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

Although Shakib’s bowling in the first innings was criticised for failing to achieve a good figure of 1-100, he also performed poorly with the willow.

But his mentor and current director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, was not surprised by Shakib’s bowling performance on the final day of the first Test, saying his former student’s ability to block out all outside noise set him apart from others.

“He (Shakib) has nothing else in his mind. He only thinks about the batsman and where to bowl. He may think about these things at other times but not while he is bowling. That is what makes him different from others. We see that others struggle to play their natural game after incidents or criticism. That is not the case with Shakib,” Fahim told reporters in Mirpur on Monday.

Fahim also noted that Shakib seemed to have overcome his difficulties with left-handed bats and regained his lost confidence in the match against Pakistan.

“We have seen Shakib uncomfortable bowling against left-handers before. But that was not the case yesterday. He bowled like a proper Test bowler.”

“Whenever he got the ball, he would bowl to take wickets. He would also talk to others and give suggestions to Miraz. He was fully into it. I think he enjoyed it too. Recently he was unhappy with his bowling but I think that has settled down; he has regained his confidence.”

The second and final Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh will begin on August 30 at the same venue.