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It’s hard for me to play when Shakib plays: Taijul


Published : 11 May 2022 08:25 PM

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam is at peace with destiny. The seasoned campaigner now looks to have a chance to feature in the opening Test against Sri Lanka, courtesy Shakib al Hasan’s positive Covid test result that ruled him out of the series opener.

The manner in which Taijul’s stop-start international career is shaping up must be disheartening for him considering he is being overlooked not because of his form but for the sake of team combination.

Taijul, however, doesn’t appear to be losing his sleep over all at his non selection and, at this stage of his career, is looking to cope rather than complain.

“I don’t think about all these things (getting dropped despite performing),” Taijul told Cricbuzz. “I know it is hard for me to play when Shakib bhai is playing or when the condition is favorable to pace bowlers. It is a reality and I have accepted it.

''I play cricket and I earn money. Not getting picked is not the end of everything. I love the game. What is my job? I am representing my country and whenever I am required I should be ready to come forward and play for the country. I don't like negativity to enter my head,. All I think is that whenever I will get a chance I will try to give my best.

Taijul reached a landmark in recent South Africa tour as he became the fastest in the country to grab 150 Test wickets while second in Bangladesh to get there so far. Earlier, Shakib Al Hassan reached the milestone to become the first Bangladeshi bowler but Taijul registered the record in seven less matches than Shakib.

Taijul said that the landmark didn’t really excite him considering the team lost. “I am not feeling anything different (becoming the fastest to reach 150 Test wickets). I am getting five wickets... but for me helping the team to win is very important and how much I am contributing behind those successes. I feel good when the team wins on the back of my performances. “It’s true that it’s difficult to be successful after playing with gaps but my success is not helping the team as we are not being able to win matches. Spinners from other countries are helping them to win matches and I feel if we play continuously we will be able to do that,” he added.

Taijul said that compared to the past, the spinners nowadays are more comfortable bowling in away conditions but feels that they could develop more if they had successive series abroad. “Condition is a big factor considering when we play at home, all the responsibility is on us (spinners) but while playing abroad it is a different story altogether,” said Taijul. “But the problem is that we don’t play too many matches abroad and even if we do, the duration is very long. For team combination at times I don’t get matches (abroad) and for that reason it is difficult to keep the development graph upwards,” he said.

“If we could play two to three series abroad in quick succession then we will develop more. Because even if we do badly in the opening series, chances are high that we would do well in the following series as we would be playing continuously. That is the reason it took time for me to get the success (abroad). “Mehedy came to the scene when I just finished two years in international cricket and now lot of time has passed. We have got a good understanding between us. Like, say, if I bowl earlier I try to share my experience about the wicket and vice versa,” he said.