‘Bangladesh bowling ineffective without me?’  

According to the Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan, it is not necessary for him to bowl if he has ample options at his disposal.

Shakib was asked to explain why he remained reluctant to bowl much in the lone Test against Ireland, which Bangladesh won by seven wickets in Mirpur today.

 "No, I don't have any explanation [for not bowling more overs]. It's not necessary that one should have to bowl when you have five-six different weapons in your armoury. So, there's no need to use all the options every time," said Shakib during the post-match press conference on Friday.  

Asked whether he should have introduced himself in the second innings when Ireland were building up a big partnership, Shakib replied, "Does it mean the Bangladesh bowling attack is ineffective without me?" 

The focus was there on Shakib right from the start of the lone Test against Ireland as he bowled only three overs, starting with the 65th over of the first innings.

With Ireland trailing by 128 runs with just six wickets in hand, Bangladesh were desperate to wrap things up quickly on the third day. However, Shakib bowled just three overs at a stretch in the beginning but did not come to bowl for a long time even though the Tigers were seemingly running out of ideas. 

He eventually bowled 13 overs in the second innings and did not get the chance to bowl at all on the fourth day, where Ireland could only add six runs to their overnight total. 

Shakib said that he had faith in his bowlers to pick 20 wickets in a Test match. 

"We have enough bowlers to pick 20 wickets and I have full faith in them. They have shown that especially in the type of pitch we don't play often. It was a very good batting wicket in the first three days. Normally we don't see a good batting surface in Mirpur in the first three days. It was a good track for batting on the fourth day as well," Shakib added.