Left-arm paceman Sajidul Islam was a surprise inclusion in the 15-member Test squad announced by the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Friday for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe later this month as he was handed a comeback to the national fold after five years.
Sajidul made his debut along with opener Tamim Iqbal and Junaed Siddique in the first Test match against New Zealand at Dunedin in 2008 but could not make a mark in the national team unlike the duo due to a back injury which he sustained in 2009.
He played both the Test matches against the Black Caps on his debut series and gathered just three wickets. He was not given any opportunities in the next three series although he was part of the Test squad.
He was later drafted in the Bangladesh A team to play against Maharashtra that eventually ended his promising career after he suffered back-stress reaction.
Though he continued to play with the injury for the next two years, Sajidul could hardly manage to deliver the same sort of performance like before due to a nagging pain which nearly ended his career.
The pace bowler eventually got rid of the injury after Bangladesh Cricket Board physio Baizid Khan diagnosed his back problem and planned for him a six-month rehab programme that ended with the second round of the National Cricket League in 2011-12.
‘It was the turning point of my career which seemed to be hugely affected by injury,’ Sajidul told New Age on Friday while explaining his comeback to the Bangladesh cricket team from the depths of despair.
‘I slowly regained my rhythm in the last two years that I had lost due to my back injury playing for the Bangladesh A team against Maharashtra,’ said Sajidul.
Sajidul presented the selectors with a reminder of his fitness in the last edition of the National Cricket League picking up 22 wickets in five games for the Rangpur Division though he was not able to carry on the rich vein of form in the second first-class tournament, Bangladesh Cricket League where he scalped just five wickets for North Zone.
He received a late call-up in the Bangladesh Premier League and played two matches for Sylhet Royals, which also helped him to draw the attention of the selectors after two years in the wilderness.
Sajidul informed that he was preparing to gear up for
the Dhaka Premier League and did not expect a national call –up at this stage.
‘It was totally unexpected,’ said Sajidul. ‘It seems that I am making a debut again as the memory of my debut in New Zealand had started to fade from my mind,’ said Sajidul.
‘I was preparing to perform in the upcoming Dhaka Premier League in order to attract the attention of the national selectors but as I am provided with an opportunity, I am ready to grab it and make a place for myself in the national set-up although you can never take it for granted,’ he added.
-With New Age input
