Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal labelled Taijul Islam as "the most underrated bowler in the world at the moment" after the left-arm spinner claimed his 16th five-wicket haul on Day 1 of the second Test against Zimbabwe in Chattogram on Monday.
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam backed his pedigree and hit back at critics after he picked a 16th five-wicket haul on Day 1 of the second Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe in Chattogram on Monday.
Taijul collected his 15th five-wicket haul in Tests on an absorbing fourth day at Sabina Park as the West Indies were bowled out for just 185 in their second innings to allow Bangladesh record their first Test triumph in the Caribbean since July of 2009.
Bangladesh trail by 537 runs after a commanding performance by the visitors that gifted maiden Test centuries to three batsmen including Tony de Zorzi, who was dismissed before lunch on 177.
Bangladesh will look to bounce back in Chattogram during the series-concluding second Test against South Africa, scheduled to start today, in an attempt to avoid a series defeat against a SENA country on home soil after 14 years.
On the day before a Test match, the common practice in Bangladesh is that the captain of the host team would attend the pre-match press conference.
As it stands, South Africa are still in the driving seat despite Bangladesh’s 81-run lead.
Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam entertained all with his witty responses in the press conference after the first day’s play of the ongoing first Test against South Africa on Monday.
There was no way for Bangladesh to make up for a very poor batting performance, bowled out for 106 against South Africa in the first Test in Mirpur, but spinner Taijul Islam's fifer sort of came pretty close to making up for the batting debacle on Monday. But in terms of strategical standpoints or how Test cricket should be approached, Bangladesh once again appear to be going backwards.
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam underlined that bundling out South Africa for as cheaply as possible would be crucial to balance the scales in the Tigers' favour in the first of the two-Test series between the sides at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Taijul reached the milestone in his 48th Test, whereas it took Shakib 54 Tests, making him the quickest among Bangladeshi players to reach 200 Test wickets.
Pakistan spin wizard Mushtaq Ahmed has been in charge of the Bangladesh spinners for the past two international assignments -- the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies followed by the two-match Test tour of Pakistan. His troops have delivered remarkable performances in both tours but the 54-year-old is yet to be offered a long-term contract. In an interview with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan yesterday, Mushtaq shared his take on Bangladesh’s historic series win in Pakistan and his future with the Tigers.
Bangladesh spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed on Thursday said that the players have recovered from the effects of the chaotic situation in the country and are focusing on cricket.
“This many people usually don’t turn up to see a fitness test at six in the morning. I’m sure they are here because it’s happening at the Bangabandhu [National] Stadium,” said Shahriar Nafees, the current cricket operations manager, after the national team’s fitness test at the famed venue yesterday.
In the last ball of the morning session on Day 2 of the Sylhet Test yesterday, Taijul Islam ran a couple of runs off pacer Vishwa Fernando to reach 41, crossing into the 40s for the first time in his Test career.
In total, the three bowlers made 84 runs while the other specialist bowler in the team, Nahid Rana, remained unbeaten on 0.
Cummins was rewarded for his supreme bowling performance in his side’s victorious Test series against Pakistan
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has been rewarded for his pivotal role in the Tigers’ maiden Test victory against New Zealand at home in December 2023 with a nomination for the ICC’s Player of the Month award for the month of December.
Taijul Islam, who spun Bangladesh to their maiden home Test win over New Zealand in Sylhet, spoke with The Daily Star's Mazhar Uddin, where he opened up about his views on getting overshadowed by his more prominent teammates and gave his two cents about the use of home advantage in home Tests. The excerpts are given below:
