"I am very happy today," said Shahadat. "My name is on the board, and it's the first time in Bangladesh cricket so it's a big thing for me. After my debut, I never thought I would get a second chance to come here to Lord's, but I always said that, if I did, I would try to make up for it. That time Trescothick and [Andrew] Strauss hit me everywhere, but this time I just tried to forget it. I bowled line and length with a bit of swing, and nothing else."
From the moment Shahadat found his range in a purposeful second spell, Bangladesh's collective approach was of the up-and-at-'em variety. They claimed six wickets for 143 to rob England of their right to declare, and if Tamim Iqbal's initial flurry of bat-swishes crossed the line between bold and reckless, it nevertheless got the close fielders out of his eyeline, and encouraged his more timid partner, Imrul Kayes, to knuckle down alongside him.
However, Shahadat returned older and 26 Tests wiser, and made it his mission to atone for those shortcomings. His reward was a place on the dressing-room honours board - the first Bangladeshi ever to achieve such a feat. But more importantly, the verve and impetus he injected into his own performance provided his team with the inspiration that had been so sorely lacking on that last infamous visit. The net result was the best day that Bangladesh has ever produced in a Test against England, and for a sceptical audience, definitive proof of the strides they have taken in their development.
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