Taijul Islam has become the first Bangladeshi cricketer to secure a contract in South Africa’s franchise T20 competition, the SA20.
The 33-year-old left-arm spinner was picked by Durban Super Giants in the express round of the auction on 9 September at his base price of 500,000 rand. It marks the first time in his career that Taijul has been signed by a foreign franchise league.
A total of 782 players registered for the fourth edition of the SA20, with 541 making it to the auction pool. Fourteen Bangladesh cricketers were part of the list: Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shamim Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Hasan Mahmud, Jaker Ali Anik, Taijul Islam, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana, Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan.
Of those, Taijul was the only one to be bought. Mustafizur Rahman, whose name was the first among the Bangladeshis to come up at the auction, went unsold after failing to attract a bid. The left-arm seamer will instead feature in the ILT20 for Dubai Capitals, as previously confirmed.
The SA20’s fourth season is scheduled for January-February next year. At Durban, Taijul will line up alongside international stars Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, Jos Buttler and Sunil Narine.
