Taskin in or out?
There was much anticipation and conjecture when the selectors announced the 15-member Bangladesh squad for the ICC World Cup because they hinted that there would still be room for some last-minute changes to the squad.
There was a lot of talk about fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who did not make the original World Cup squad and was not even picked for the tri-nation ODI series in Ireland, before being included for the Ireland series at the last moment.
There were also questions about whether Taskin had fully recovered from his ankle injury, which he sustained during the Bangladesh Premier League, and which saw him ruled out of the New Zealand tour earlier this year.
The 24-year-old, who is yet to find his rhythm, conceded 66 runs from his 10 overs and picked two wickets against Ireland Wolves in the warm-up game, in Ireland as questions still remain about whether he would be able to get into enough of a groove to come into World Cup consideration.
Interestingly, according to sources close to the team management, another pacer in Abu Jayed -- who is as yet uncapped in ODIs – may make way for Taskin for the sake of lending variety to the Bangladesh fast bowling department for the World Cup.
Although Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan admitted that the Tigers’ think tank are looking for variations and considering Taskin, he also said that he was yet to receive any recommendation from the selectors about including the pacer in the World Cup squad.
“The talk about including Taskin was there in the past but we have not taken any decision yet. The main thing is that the four pacers we have – Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza], Rubel [Hossain], Mustafizur [Rahman] and [Abu Jayed] Rahi are pretty similar when it comes to pace. Rubel has a bit more pace but their style of bowling is pretty similar and if you look for variations then you won’t notice that in Rahi. Only Taskin can bring some variation as he has the height along with pace and he also has a good bouncer, which is very important in those [UK] conditions.
“Taskin was not initially in the team because he was not fit and you might say that he is fit now, but for me, although he is bowling he is still not fully fit yet and yet to find rhythm. But I think in this situation it won’t be wise to drop Rahi without giving him an opportunity and include Taskin, which is my personal opinion. I have not received any recommendation to take Taskin yet,” Nazmul told reporters at his residence yesterday.
The BCB boss however said that if Taskin is able to become fit and regain good rhythm, he still has some chance to get into the World Cup squad, which however – according to Hassan -- would be unfair for Jayed.
