A file photo shows Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed walking during a training session at Mirpur. — New Age photo
Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hassan on Saturday said that they were yet to make any decision on pacer Taskin Ahmed’s inclusion in the Tigers’ World Cup squad.
There were some talks regarding Taskin’s inclusion in World Cup squad in place of pacer Abu Jayed, who was yet to recover from some niggles and was yet to feature in their Ireland tour.
Taskin made a surprise entry in Ireland tri-series as he was called in the squad along with all-rounder Farhad Reza at the eleventh hour before the team’s departure for Ireland.
Taskin played the warm-up game against Ireland Wolves and finished with 3-66 in 10 overs but the pacer could not make a place in Bangladesh’s opening tri-series fixture against West Indies which they won by eight wickets in Dublin.
However, Jayed, who is yet to make his one-day international debut, had only warmed himself in the dugouts so far in Ireland tour as he had some issues of blister on his feet and could not start bowling practice.
‘There were some talks [Taskin’s inclusion] earlier. But we haven’t made any such decision yet,’ Nazmul told reporters in his residence.
Nazmul, however, admitted that the team management especially the skipper and coach wanted to have variation in their pace-attack and they believed Taskin can do it for them.
There are still some chances of making adjustments in the World Cup squad before May 22 and Nazmul said that Taskin needed to prove his fitness and form to be in contention for a World Cup place.
‘If you look at our four pacers –Mashrafee [bin Murtaza], Mustafizur [Rahman], Rubel [Hossain] and Rahi [Abu Jayed] – all of them have similar heights and the same pace. Rubel has a little more pace than the others but all of their bowling styles are same,’ said the BCB chief.
‘If you want variation, Rahi doesn’t have anything special. Only Taskin can bring some variation. Taskin has good height. Second thing is his pace and his bouncers, which they feel they will require more over there.
‘They [team management] are thinking that Taskin’s bouncers are very good. This means his inclusion would bring more variety,’ he added.
Nazmul also said that it would be unfair to drop Jayed from the squad without giving him any proper chance.
‘You could say that he [Taskin] is fit now but to me he still isn’t. He is bowling but he is not completely fit. He hasn’t yet found his rhythm yet. Line-length is not right yet. In this circumstance picking him [Taskin] without giving Rahi [Jayed] a chance won’t be right,’ he said.
‘That’s my personal thinking. I have not received any proposal to pick him. I got to know from you [reporters]. Now, if he is fit, then we can pick him. We have time till May 22.’
Source: New Age.
