Taskin Ahmed

The experienced leader of Bangladesh’s consistently-improving pace attack, Taskin Ahmed has gone from strength to strength as a fast bowler and has remade himself as a consistent player that the Tigers can turn to when needing express pace in all conditions.

Taskin’s pace brought with it its own share of problems in the early part of his career, as recurring injuries and bowling action problems kept him in and out of the Bangladesh setup and never really let him find a groove. However, greater consistency and repeatability is something Taskin Ahmed has worked hard to reproduce in his game, and he has reaped the rewards by becoming a nailed-on member for his team in recent years.

Early career

Taskin Ahmed was viewed as a firecracker young bowler in his young days, as his high pace and sharp bounce made the Bangladesh management view him as the kind of player who could inspire their pace attack to greater heights.

In search of the kind of pace that could change games singlehandedly, Bangladesh placed a lot of stock on Taskin’s quality, and he delivered in the 2012 U-19 World Cup but finishing as their leading wicket-taker in that tournament.

Breaking out

While his pace and movement would continue to impress domestically, an initial knee injury would force him to undergo surgery soon after that World Cup. He made his international debut soon after rehab, stepping in for an injured Mashrafe Mortaza for a T20I against Australia.

His ODI debut would be a remarkable and memorable one, as he booted up for the Tigers against India in Mirpur in 2014. He would take a famous five-fer as Bangladesh skittled out India for just 105 runs in the same match as Stuart Binny’s famous figures of 6-4. Taskin had announced himself on the global stage, and was rewarded with a call-up to the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand where his pace could play a big role for the overachieving Bangladesh team.

He would have to wait until 2017 for his Test debut, but had as impressive a maiden scalp as any, as he dismissed Kane Williamson in Wellington.

Return to international cricket

Taskin Ahmed saw himself dropped from the Bangladesh plans as he failed to improve a slightly erratic style of bowling in 2017. This, along with recurrence of persisting injuries, meant that he wasn’t in the plans for those years.

Taskin has admitted to the pressure and difficulty of that phase in his career, but came out stronger on the other side as a result of working on his game domestically in that period. Taskin Ahmed returned to the fold in 2021 with improved fitness and a more reliable and repeatable action which would place less stress on his body and allow him to be more accurate.

Nevertheless, crediting the guidance of famed bowling coach Ottis Gibson, Taskin Ahmed was able to maintain the same uncomfortable speed that had caught the attention in his younger days, and also committed to working on his batting to provide another dimension to his game. This resulted in him joining Mahmadullah for the highest ninth-wicket partnership since 1998 in a Test match against Zimbabwe in 2021.

He would receive player of the series honours in an ODI tour of South Africa, establishing him as amongst the most threatening pace bowlers plying their trade in Asia at the moment.

He will be leading Bangladesh’s exciting new era with the ball as they begin with a two-match tour of India, fresh off their success in Pakistan.