Mahmudullah ends run-drought

Mahmudullah had started to walk back the moment his attempted heave down the ground was hurtling towards Kirk Edwards at short cover. He had just got to his first half-century in Test cricket after nearly 21 months, and had seemingly thrown it away with a poor shot. It was a moment of sharp disappointment, particularly with close of play looming, but the tide in St Vincent was slowly turning towards Bangladesh.

So Edwards would drop the sitter, West Indies would look shocked and Mahmudullah would get to bat for another 8.2 overs. Mushfiqur would end the day on an unbeaten 70 but Mahmudullah's 151-ball 66 was equally crucial in Bangladesh's fightback. The pair added 130 for the fifth wicket, the biggest gain of which was Mahmudullah's crawl back to scoring runs.

Before Mahmudullah was joined by Mushfiqur late in the morning session, the sorry tale of Bangladesh's batting woes had repeated yet again and continued the trend of a pitiful year. But the pair rode on luck and prevailed through tough periods when runs were hard to find. Shannon Gabriel bowled seven maidens in a row, which on most days would have resulted in wickets, as it did in the first innings when Nasir Hossain couldn't resist hitting out against Jermaine Blackwood after Sulieman Benn bowled three maidens from the other end.

Mushfiqur encouraged Mahmudullah during the partnership, asking him questions in between overs. But it was always up to Mahmudullah to fight back, and make sure the question marks over his place would rest for at least one more day.

Arguably one of the prettier batsmen in Bangladesh, Mahmudullah has endured a dramatic drop in form. Incidentally it was against West Indies that he had scored his previous Test fifty. That half-century had arrived on the back of a 62 which helped Bangladesh compete fiercely with West Indies, an innings during which Mahmudullah was bruised by Tino Best but he talked about how important it was to survive in that innings.

He was even better in the subsequent ODI series, getting Bangladesh out of trouble a number of times, and eventually playing a key role in their 3-2 win. But that was it for him, failing everywhere he played, losing his place in the Test team and eventually stripped of his vice-captaincy.

He soon became the face of ridicule, with the odd hint he that he was getting undue advantage too, after Mushfiqur got engaged to Mahmudullah's sister-in-law last October. It coincided with Mahmudullah's loss in form getting worse but still being picked in all three formats. Mushfiqur had in fact slammed the selectors for not consulting him while picking the Asia Cup squad, which didn't have Mahmudullah.

A few months ago, Mahmudullah celebrated getting to a first-class century in such an ugly manner, he was suspended for the first two matches of the 2014-15 first-class season (as it was the last match of the previous season).

This innings in St Vincent will help tone down some of criticism Mahmudullah has faced. Without Shakib Al Hasan, it was always important for Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur to take up the bigger responsibilities within the team. At least in this innings, Mahmudullah has stepped up.