|| CF DESK ||

Having spent his career mostly in the shadow of Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam faced questions about how he managed in the absence of the star all-rounder. The omission of Shakib for this current Test due to politics meant Taijul saw a chance to play a few successive games.

The left-arm spinner took five wickets against South Africa on Monday to become the second Bangladeshi bowler after Shakib to reach 200 Test wickets. Taijul reached the milestone in six fewer matches than Shakib.

Bangladesh were thus bowled out for just 106 in the first innings but Taijul, on a turning Mirpur pitch, struck back taking 5 for 49 to restrict South Africa to 140 for 6 at the end of the day's play.

Taijul was asked, in the post-match press conference, about how he performed in Shakib's absence. His response showed some irritability.

"Your first question is about Shakib bhai not being here. It's not like I haven’t played without Shakib bhai. I’ve played many matches without him. We won a Test in New Zealand without him. We beat New Zealand here, and Shakib bhai wasn’t part of that either. There are many such examples. You can’t expect one player to play for 50 years."

He wanted to retire with this match in Mirpur, but he could not get back to the country due to all the political hassles.

"It's part of the game. Someone comes, someone goes. You have to accept it, whether it's 10 years, 15 or 20 years. No doubt he was a great player. We'll pray that someone else of his caliber comes along, or that those here continue to perform well," He added.

Taijul further acknowledged that Shakib, being an all-rounder, many times got lesser opportunities to represent the second left-arm spinner when Bangladesh toured abroad. In front of the home crowd, whenever Shakib was in the team, Taijul was playing a supporting role.

"Whether Shakib bhai was playing or not, I’ve taken wickets because of him. It’s just how it’s been." This comment hinted at some frustration from the 32-year-old spinner.”