One fine morning in a small city of Natore in Rajshahi, Taijul Islam’s uncle came to him upon hearing a megaphone announcement on the streets that there will be a camp for the under-13 cricketers in the city.

A keen youngTaijul was looking for just such an opportunity to showcase his talent, and he did just that, going on to represent Bangladesh in the national under-13 team.

He went on to represent age-level teams and it was in his under-19 days, during which he was also playing for Orient Sporting Club, that the left-arm spinner received his first call up to the first-class National Cricket League for Rajshahi in 2011.

The only son among three children, Taijul had already started contributing to his family from his cricket earnings, and he nursed the ambition to play for the national team.

Finally, he broke through the domestic circuit with a bag full of wickets in the 2013-14 season and made it to the Test team in West Indies in 2014, where he showed his ability with the ball. Soon he recorded the best innings figures by a Bangladesh bowler in just his third game, with eight for 39 in the MirpurTest against Zimbabwe.

He finished the Test series with 17 wickets and was rested for the first four ODIs and, when he made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe, he immediately entered himself into the record books.

Taijul became the fourth Bangladesh bowler to take a hattrick after Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak and Rubel Hossain. He was also the first in the history of ODI cricket to bag a hattrick on debut, before Kagiso Rabada and Sri Lanka's Wanidu H asaranga emulated the feat later on.

The 25-year-old was never tagged as the super-star in the Bangladesh team despite his outstanding entry into international cricket and the spinner has been playing his role quietly without even thinking of the fact.

With 54 wickets in just 15 Tests, including three five-wicket hauls, Taijul normally likes to stay in his own space and does not talk much in general. He believes that the performances should speak and does not think about being a superstar, fust like his demeanour, he prefers to play his role and

contribute for the team in a quiet manner.

"I never thought that I have to become a super-star in the Bangladesh team; I only concentrate on my bowling and the role I am given by the team management. We have Shakib [Al Hasan| bhai, the best all-rounder in the world and the biggest superstar and I always try to learn from him," Taijul told The Daily Star yesterday.

He was solid in the two-match Test series against Australia; his performance in the second innings of the first Test was overshadowed by an extraordinary performance from Shakib both with bat and ball.

Taijul took three vital wickets after his solitary one in the first innings but more importandy, he managed to contain runs and put the pressure on the Aussie batters.

"I was given the role to contain runs and bowl in partnerships with Shakib bhai and Mehedi [Hasan | and I think they bowled really well too. I tried to bowl in a tight line to unsettle the batsmen into making mistakes, but in the second Test in Chittagong I think we were unable to find the rhythm," he said.

With a good understanding of the game and his limitations, Taijul tries to draw the batsman forward regularly, which opens the possibilities for dose catches, or even to sneak through with his arm ball, which he did in the first innings in Chittagong when he bowled Aussie skipper Steve Smith.

He may or may not find a place in the squad to play on the green pitches in South Africa, but whenever a subcontinent or spin-friendly pitch is in the offing, it is Taijul who will be an unsung but sturdy name on the team sheet.