I am not replacing Shakib- Taijul
Collected
|| Sports Correspondent ||
Bangladesh left-arm spinner Taijul Islam said that he is not replacing Shakib al Hasan but insisted he will be eyeing to make valuable contribution so that he can fill the void in the upcoming three-match ODI’s series against Sri Lanka.
Taijul joined the Bangladesh team in Sri Lanka from Bangalore where he was featuring for BCB XI in Dr. (capt.)K. Thimmappiah Memorial Tournament at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where he bowled brilliantly to picking up 14 wickets in the opening game while picked seven wickets in the second game.
Bangladesh opted to pick him after ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan was granted leave by BCB on personal reasons as they were looking for a left-arm spinner to come in their bowling attack in place of one of the leading spinners of the world, Shakib.
‘’I don’t agree with the phrase as a replacement of Shakib Al Hassan,’’ Taijul told reporters during their opening day training session at the Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
‘’I cannot replace Shakib as he holds the number one position as an all-rounder in world ranking. I will try my best if I play in place of him and bring good results,’’ he said.
Bangladesh reached Sri Lanka on Saturday eying to erase the World Cup disappointment, left the country on Saturday to play a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The first match of the series will be held on July 26, while the rest of the two ODIs are scheduled on July 28 and 31. All of the matches will be taken place in Colombo.
Tamim Iqbal leads the side after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was ruled out due to fresh hamstring injury. Alongside him all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin was also sidelined following a lower back pain
Team’s designated vice-captain Shakib Al Hasan earlier opted out the series, requesting a leave that was granted. Liton Das also misses out due to his marriage program.
Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed and all-rounder Farhad Reza replaced Mashrafe and Saifuddin in the team at the last moment.
Selectors earlier called up Taijul Islam and Anamul Haque Bijoy in the place of Shakib and Liton.
The series was thrown into doubt following the April 21 Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka churches and hotels that killed more than 250 people.
Due to promises of providing the highest level of security to Tigers by Sri Lanka, the series has found steam and finally is rolled out and it seemed SLC is determined to keep their words by providing the highest level of security.
Despite all the injury concerns, Taijul believes they can give the host a run for their money.
‘’Currently, our team is in a good position. It cannot be said that we are lacking behind from Sri Lanka. The team who will play better in the tournament will get good results. So we will all try our best to play good cricket,’’ said Taijul
‘’When talking about the environment surrounding the team, we always try to help each other and still it remain like before. So I expect that something good will happen and everyone shares that feeling,’’ he said.
While the first crop of cricketers led by skipper Tamim Iqbal reached Colombo on Saturday the other crop of cricketers will reach Sri Lanka tomorrow, who are preparing the series by taking part in the opening two games against Afghanistan A in the five-match series.
