Taijul Islam is a young Bangladeshi first-class left-arm spinner who plays for the Rajshahi Division. He has also played for Bangladesh Under-19s, Bangladesh Under-23s, Duronto Rajshahi and the Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club. He made his first-class debut against Barisal Division in April 2011.
He currently has over 80 wickets in first-class games. In the 2013-2014 season, Taijul was the leading wicket-taker, having picked up 53 scalps at an average of 20.62 for Rajshahi Division and North Zone. This strong performance, earned him a place in the Bangladesh A squad that toured West Indies in May 2014.
A fantastic 2013-14 season and Shakib Al Hasan’s suspension since July 2014, earned Taijul a spot in the Test side. He made his debut against West Indies in September 2014. He registered impressive figures of 5/135 in the first innings and became the sixth Bangladeshi bowler to take a five-wicket haul on his Test debut. Records continued to tumble for young Taijul when he played against Zimbabwe a month later. He became the first Bangladeshi to take eight wickets in a Test innings. If that was not enough, he enjoyed a dream ODI debut as well. Against the same opposition, he took a hat-trick, becoming the first bowler ever to take a hat-trick on ODI debut.
Taijul was subsequently handed the national contract after the Zimbabwe series.
