Simple but effective
He is not someone who fancies all the attention that stardom brings but, having come of age since debuting four years ago and gradually proving himself as one of Bangladesh's best Test bowlers, Taijul Islam cannot avoid the spotlight any longer.
Whether he is spearheading the spin department in the absence of Test skipper and most successful spinner Shakib Al Hasan or playing the role of a bowling partner, Taijul has consistently provided assurance in the longest format of the game.
The 26-year-old's strategy in cricket is as simple as his lifestyle -- just try to bowl in the right areas, keep asking questions of the batsmen and bowl in pairs with his partners.
"My strategy in the first innings was the same as the one in the second innings. I don't fret much if I am not getting wickets as my aim, even if I am unable to get the breakthroughs, is to concede fewer runs so that the bowler at the other end can gain some advantage. Cricket is a game where someone will concede runs while other will take wickets," Taijul told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
In the first Test against the West Indies, Taijul was part of a four-pronged spin attack that also included Shakib, Mehedi Hasan Miraz and newcomer Nayeem Hassan, who became the youngest bowler in Tests to take a five-for on debut. Taijul said that whether four spinners are playing or two, his mindset remains simple -- just do not let the opposition score freely.
Taijul took just one wicket in the first innings, but went on to bag six wickets in the second as West Indies folded for 139 in chase of a 204-run target in Chattogram on Saturday.
Taijul's fourth five-wicket haul in the last three Tests has seen him scalp 40 wickets from just six games this year. That puts him fourth on the list of leading wicket-takers in 2018, six behind South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada, who leads the table with 46 scalps from nine matches.
Not aware of the fact that Taijul, currently on 94 wickets from 22 Tests, can become the fastest Bangladesh bowler to 100 Test wickets. Shakib reached the feat in 28 Tests. If Taijul manages to take six wickets in the second Test against West Indies, he will become the joint eighth-fastest in Test history.
"I am not thinking of such things at the moment and I will keep trying to bowl well, which I have been trying from the start. Picking up wickets is a matter of luck and if you bowl well there is a high chance of picking wickets," he added.
The second and final Test against the West Indies is set to start from November 30 in Mirpur, and whether the pitch is a batting paradise or a spin-friendly one, Taijul will surely find a simple way to unsettle the opposition.
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