Taijul Islam

Taijul Islam is a Bangladeshi cricketer born on February 7, 1992, in the district of Natore in Bangladesh. He is a slow left-arm orthodox spinner and is a left-handed batter.  

Islam is one of the many left-arm spinners who has appeared for Bangladesh from their crop of spin department. He has been a Test specialist for the Tigers and has become one of their bowling mainstays in home conditions.

Taijul Islam: Along the Years

Taijul Islam Records

• Sixth Bangladeshi bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut

• Best figures by a Bangladeshi bowler in an innings in Tests (8/39)

• First cricketer to take a hat-trick on ODI debut

• Second Bangladeshi bowler to take 100 wickets in Tests 

• Second-most five-wicket hauls for Bangladesh in Tests (12)

• Second-highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in Tests 

Taijul Islam Awards and Accolades

• Nominated for the ICC Player of the Month in December 2023

• Player of the Tournament in Bangladesh Cricket League 2014

Taijul Islam Career

Taijul Islam has represented the Bangladesh cricket team across formats for around a decade. In the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the spinner plays for Fortune Barishal and was part of the victorious Barishal squad that won the BPL 2024 edition.

Taijul Islam Domestic Career

Taijul Islam made his domestic debut for Rajshahi Division against Barisal Division in Fatullah during the National Cricket League 2010-11 season. On his first-class (FC) debut, Islam was dismissed for a duck in the first innings. However, he grabbed a four-wicket haul in the second innings and picked up a couple of wickets in the fourth. In the inaugural edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), he made his T20 debut for Duronto Rajshahi against Khulna Royal Bengals on February 26, 2012, in Mirpur. He picked up a solitary wicket on his T20 debut.

In the ACC Emerging Teams Cup 2013, Islam made his List-A debut for the Bangladesh Under-23s against the Sri Lanka Under-23s in Singapore on August 18, 2013. He went wicketless in the first innings and was dismissed for a golden duck in the second. 

Taijul Islam International Career

Taijul Islam has been a revelation for the Bangladesh cricket team in the longest format of the game. His slow left-arm orthodox has been crucial in setting up many famous victories for the Tigers.

Taijul Islam ODI Career

In the fifth and final ODI of Zimbabwe’s tour of Bangladesh in 2014, Taijul Islam made his ODI debut on December 1, 2014, in Mirpur. He etched his name in the history books by becoming the first cricketer in the history of ODI cricket to take a hat-trick on his debut.

Islam featured for Bangladesh in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 held in Australia and New Zealand. He took his maiden ODI five-wicket haul against West Indies in Providence in Bangladesh’s tour of West Indies in 2022.

Taijul Islam Test Career

Taijul Islam made his international debut for Bangladesh against West Indies in the first Test during Bangladesh’s tour of the West Indies on September 5, 2014. He picked up a five-wicket haul and became only the sixth Bangladeshi to take a five-wicket haul on his Test debut. 

In a Test match against Zimbabwe, Islam registered his career-best figures of 8/39 in the second innings. With that haul, he also recorded the best-ever figures registered by a Bangladeshi in an innings in their short Test history. He has taken the second-most five-fors for Bangladesh in Test cricket and is the second-leading wicket-taker for Bangladesh in Tests, only behind Shakib Al Hasan respectively. 

In a Test against Afghanistan in 2019, he raced past the 100-wicket mark in his 25th Test. He became the second Bangladeshi to do so after Shakib Al Hasan. 

Taijul Islam T20I Career

Five years after making his international debut, Taijul Islam made his T20I debut for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe on September 13, 2019, in the first T20I of the Tri-series involving hosts Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Zimbabwe. He picked up a wicket of the very first ball that he bowled in T20Is by dismissing opener, Brendan Taylor.