Winning for the team felt really good: Taijul

Bangladesh bowler Taijul Islam is over the moon on his performance against Zimbabwe in the first Test.

The Tigers beat the Africans by three wickets within three days on a wet surface at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Monday.

The left-arm orthodox spinner recorded the best ever figures by a Bangladeshi bowler, 8 for 39, which helped the hosts to their first Test victory this year.

But he was specifically elated for hitting a boundary to bring up the winning runs.

His crafty bowling helped Bangladesh restrict the tourists to 114 in their second innings, leaving the hosts to chase 101 for victory.

Later the Man of the Match made an unbeaten 15 when his side was in deep trouble.

"Obviously it feels really good. I couldn’t do well in the last innings. I thought a lot about it and I thought that I had to do well because there’s a lot of fight in this team,” he said at the post-match press conference.

Picking up career’s second five-wicket haul in three Test matches the 22-year-old said, “No matter, what kind of a wicket is given to me, I have to bowl in the right areas.”

When asked which mattered more, taking eight wickets or smacking the winning boundary, he said, “For me, winning for the team felt really good.”

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim was overjoyed with Taijul’s performance.

“The way Taijul has been working in the last four months, his hunger and eagerness, these are the reasons behind his success and that’s what he deserves,” the captain said at the press conference.

“The support which Shakib (Al Hasan) and Jubair (Hossain) and Shahdat (Hossain) gave him also mattered. That made it easier for him,” he added.