Sports Desk

Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam said on Monday that he is happy to get 200 Test wickets but added that he is not looking too far ahead considering he is not sure how many Tests Bangladesh will play in the coming days.

Taijul, who began the Mirpur Test with 196 wickets to his name, turned out to be the wrecker-in-chief, soared with joy after dismantling Matthew Breetzke’s stump, and for good reason considering it was his 200th Test wicket, a monumental achievement in his career that he achieved playing six Test lesser than his illustrious bowling partner Shakib.

Taijul took 48 Test matches to get 200 wickets while all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan earned it playing 54 Test matches.

“Definitely, it is something to feel happy about (200 wickets). There may be a number of bowlers in world cricket who have 200 wickets in Test cricket, even 300-400 wickets. We, Bangladeshi players, haven’t played Test for so long that so many of us would reach the milestone. It’s not something to be proud of that I am among two bowlers (to reach 200 wickets), but Alhamdulillah. Allah has given me, that’s why it was possible,” Taijul told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

“First, I have to see how many Tests we have in the next five years. Then will calculate and can answer (how many wickets to finish with). It’s difficult if we have 10 Tests (to reach 350-400 wickets) (laughs),” he said.

Taijul added that he is happy with the way his career shaped up despite remaining in the shadow of Shakib while added that it is high time they need to focus on cricket rather than thinking too much about the departure of the ace all-rounder, who seemed to have played his last Test in Kanpur where he announced his retirement.

“I won’t say my career is that bad, Alhamdulillah, I’ve had a good career. You can’t always play three spinners. Sometimes you can play only one spinner. I don’t think one spinner was played where three were needed or vice-versa. Probably I should have played more matches, but that didn’t happen,” said Taijul.

“Actually, you can’t have a player for 50 years. Players will come and go. One can play for 10-15 or at max 20 years. We have to accept it,” he concluded.