Taijul Islam: If Bangladesh had taken the lead of 250 runs, it would have been different

Taijul Islam, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, is hopeful that 250 runs will be a decent total to defend against India in the second Test, at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka while Taijul said that he is happy with his performance against India so far in the series.

Taijul Islam, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, is hopeful that 250 runs will be a decent total to defend against India in the second Test, at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka. 

Led by 4-fers from Taijul and Shakib, Bangladesh bundled out the visitors for 314 in the first innings, conceding an 87-run lead, before going to stumps at 7 for no loss in their second innings, on Friday.

“If Bangladesh can take a lead of 250 runs, it will be good. If we want to take a 250-run lead, we will have to bat for the entire day tomorrow, and we will have to see how the wicket will behave on the fourth and fifth day,”

Taijul told reporters after the second day’s play.

“We want to score as much as possible because we still have three days of play left. If we can bat well and take the lead to 300 or 350, it will be even better.”

As many as four catches were dropped and one stumping was missed, which proved costly.

“To be honest, the middle session was an expensive one,”

Taijul conceded. 

“If we could’ve leaked lesser runs, even if we didn’t get wickets, it would have been good for us. Still, I won’t say that we are in a very bad state.

“To be honest, we have some lacking (in fielding and catching) here. When they play against big teams, they don’t get those chances. But against Bangladesh, they get one or two chances.

“At one point, we missed two to three chances and if we could’ve picked those chances, they would have been all out even before crossing our total.”

After having picked four wickets in the opening Test, and following up with four more in the first innings of the second Test, Taijul said that he is happy with his performance against India so far in the series.

“I think everything is alright (as far as my bowling is concerned). When you are playing against a big team, few bowlers won’t do well and perhaps one or two bowlers will under-perform,”

he said.

“I think we are bowling well. We are playing against a big team, and taking that, we are doing well,”

he said, adding that Shakib al Hasan did not struggle in the middle, even though his bowling fitness remained a concern for them.

“I think he gave 100 percent (as a bowler) and I haven’t seen anything bad. The breakthrough that he (Shakib) provided at the latter part of the innings suggests that he was bowling well.”