Taijul goes past Cummins with another five-wicket haul

Taijul Islam has become an almost indispensable member of Bangladesh's Test team. In nearly every Test series, regardless of the result, he quietly does his job. Today in Colombo was no different, as Taijul picked up five wickets. Although Bangladesh trailed by 211 runs in the first innings, it was largely thanks to Taijul that Sri Lanka's lead did not extend to 300 or 400. He dismissed both Sri Lankan openers, Pathum Nissanka and Lahiru Udara, captain Dhananjaya de Silva, and tail-enders Tharindu Ratnayake and Asitha Fernando.

While his five-wicket haul benefitted Bangladesh, it also brought him a new personal milestone. Since 2018, Taijul has taken five wickets in an innings 14 times, which is the joint highest in this period. Jasprit Bumrah has also taken five wickets 14 times since 2018, but he needed 88 innings to do so, whereas Taijul achieved his in only 69 innings. Nathan Lyon follows with 12 such hauls, while Ravichandran Ashwin has done it 11 times. Bangladesh's Mehidy Hasan Miraz is next with 10 five-wicket hauls. Today, Taijul surpassed Australia's Pat Cummins, who has fewer than 14.

Taijul now has 237 Test wickets, just nine short of Shakib Al Hasan's tally, making it possible for him to overtake Shakib as Bangladesh's highest Test wicket-taker as early as the home series against Ireland in November. He also equalled another record today. Taijul has taken five wickets in an innings away from home five times, the joint highest for Bangladesh alongside Shakib Al Hasan, though Shakib needed eight more innings to achieve this.

In terms of most five-wicket hauls by Bangladeshi bowlers in Tests, Shakib leads with 19, followed by Taijul with 17, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz with 10. Among left-arm spinners worldwide, Taijul now ranks fourth for the most five-wicket hauls in Tests. If he achieves it three more times, he will surpass Shakib's 20 and draw level with Daniel Vettori, who also took 20. However, reaching the very top will be difficult, as the record is held by Rangana Herath, who took five wickets in an innings 36 times. Interestingly, Taijul has worked with both Vettori and Herath as Bangladesh's spin bowling coaches at different times in his career.