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Unlike Bangladesh’s batting, Taijul Islam’s press conference at the end of the opening day of the first Test against South Africa in Mirpur on Monday was filled with laughter and smiles.

Taijul became only the second Bangladeshi bowler after Shakib Al Hasan to bag 200 Test wickets. It took Taijul six Tests and 10 innings fewer than Shakib — the man often he was overshadowed by — to reach the milestone.

Before Taijul, 83 bowlers had taken at least 200 wickets in Test history, and the left-arm spinner is aware of this.

‘There may be a number of bowlers in world cricket who have 200 wickets in Test cricket, even 300-400 wickets,’ Taijul told reporters.

‘But we don’t play many Test matches. If we did, many of us would reach the milestone. It’s not something to be proud of that I am among the two bowlers [to reach 200 wickets], but Alhamdulillah.’

Taijul played almost half of his 48 matches with Shakib, most of them at home. He was never the first-pick spinner, especially in away Tests when Shakib was available. 

When Shakib’s name was mentioned repeatedly at the press conference, at one point Taijul said, ‘It is as if I get wickets because of Shakib bhai when he is here; I also get wickets because of him when he is not here. But it is me who plays.’

‘I have no regrets. I felt good playing with big players. It’s a happy feeling sharing things with them, whoever he is.’

Taijul, who often was overshadowed by Shakib in his career, also reminded, ‘It’s not like I never played without Shakib bhai. We played matches without him when he was here.’

‘Even when we won a Test in New Zealand, Shakib bhai didn’t play. When we beat New Zealand at home, Shakib bhai wasn’t there. There are many instances.

 ‘Actually, you can’t have a player for 50 years. Players will come and go. One can play for 10–15 or at most 20 years. We have to accept it. No doubt, he was a very good player, but let’s pray we get someone like him or someone from current crops perform well,’ he joked.

He also doesn’t want to feel that he was deprived because of a figure like Shakib.

 ‘Deprived… There is nothing to be deprived of here. Look, there are so many players in the world who didn’t get enough chances,’ said Taijul.

‘For example, Rangana Herath couldn’t play while Muttiah Muralitharan was playing. But when he played, he picked up so many wickets. Let’s see what happens in the future.’

Taijul knows that the spotlight won’t always be on him. He even joked that there are some players in the country who became stars ‘by getting trolled without performing.’ 

Taijul also kept the team’s spirits up, saying it was possible the match was ‘still in our hands’ to win.