Tireless Taijul once again takes charge when the team needs it most

On-field umpire Richard Kettleborough left the field due to excessive heat on day four.

Players had to take frequent breaks due to that.

Despite the steaming heat, Taijul Islam bowled 82 overs in the Test match - 48 overs in the first innings and 34 in the second, the most by anyone in the match and gave Bangladesh whatever little chances they had of winning the Test by picking up a superb four-wicket haul. 

His first-innings figures (1 for 107) don't really tell how good a spell that was.

On the first day, it was Taijul Islam who started putting pressure on Sri Lanka along with Shakib Al Hasan by bowling a host of dot balls.

There was a period of 20 overs when Shakib and Taijul bowled in tandem and gave away only 20 runs.

The pressure resulted in the wicket of Kusal Mendis, picked up by Taijul. 

Nayeem Hasan picked up a six-for in the first innings but a lot of credit goes to Taijul for his persistence.

He maintained an impeccable line and length on an unresponsive pitch for 48 overs, 12 of them being maidens, and maintained an economy rate of just 2.22. 

Taijul is the captain's go-to man for creating pressure at one end by drying up runs.

He has bowled at least 40 overs in an innings 14 times, comfortably the most by anyone for Bangladesh. 

But in the second innings, Taijul showed his wicket-taking ability once again.

Coming in at number nine, he scored a valuable 20 off 45 balls to extend the lead to 68.

And then it was all Taijul for the rest of the day.

Towards the back end of the fourth day, he affected a run out to see the back of Oshada Fernando and cleaned up the nightwatchman Lasith Embuldeniya in the last ball of the day.

Taijul started from where he left off on the final day of the match.

He removed the dangerous Kusal Mendis and then Angelo Mathews in the first session and it gave Bangladesh a slim chance of winning the Test.

Dimuth Karunaratne showed patience for 138 balls but Taijul made good use of the pace variations to get rid of him.

Thus, Taijul contributed to the first five Sri Lanka wickets in one way or the other before an assured partnership between Niroshan Dickwella and Dinesh Chandimal helped them secure a draw.

Taijul has been consistent for Bangladesh for a long time despite not always being the first-choice spinner due to his batting ability, the lack of it to be precise.

Despite taking 10 wickets in three innings including a seven-wicket haul against Pakistan at home, he had to sit out for three away Tests as Mehidy Hasan Miraz was considered over him.

He returned to the team in the Gqeberha Test and proved his worth by taking nine wickets in the match.

In the absence of Shakib Al Hasan, he had extra responsibility to shoulder and he did that perfectly. 

Taijul reached the milestone of 150 Test wickets as the second Bangladeshi after Shakib in that Test match.

Shakib hasn't been a regular Test player for the last five years and it seemed to have brought the best out of Taijul.

Since 2017, Taijul has been Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in Tests.

In 26 matches since then, he has picked up 115 wickets at an average of 32 while Miraz, frequently chosen over Taijul, took 109 despite playing five more Tests than him. 

Since 2021, Taijul has taken 44 wickets in just eight games at an average of just under 30 and registered three five-fors and one would expect that he will continue to shine both at home and away.