Transformed Taskin ready to spearhead Bangladesh's World Cup challenge

Just moments after he was dropped from the 2019 World Cup squad, a distraught Taskin Ahmed burst into tears when reporters at the Academy ground in Mirpur asked him about his omission. He was in top form but an untimely injury meant the selectors thought he was not fit enough to make the cut. 

For someone who started his international career with so much promise, it was a massive setback. The next year, Covid-19 hit the world and suddenly a realisation hit him. Taskin feared he would fade away if he didn't work hard.

Taskin saw the world changing in front of him. At the age of 25, he experienced stardom and saw the other side of it as well when he was out of the team. He decided he needed to regain fitness at any cost. Despite lockdown constraints, Taskin worked hard to reach his goal in terms of fitness and sought help from a mind trainer. 

A change in lifestyle was also a must, he felt. A happy-go-lucky person, Taskin stopped wasting too much time hanging out with friends. His sole focus was becoming a world-class fast bowler and making a name for himself in international cricket.

He returned to ODI cricket in January 2021 and the match against the West Indies at home was his first match in the 50-over format in more than three years. He bowled decently without much luck in New Zealand but was outstanding in the Test series in Sri Lanka. The pace was always going up and he developed a decent bouncer. 

Still, 2021 was statistically one of his worst years in ODIs. He had to bowl 50 deliveries for a wicket that year and the average was on the higher side as well - 41.7.

Taskin's breakthrough ODI performance came the next year in South Africa where he took eight wickets in three matches to power Bangladesh to a first-ever series victory in that country. He took a decisive five-wicket haul in the third ODI and was named the Player of the Series. 

But injuries didn't stop chasing him as he missed a few games here and there over the last couple of years. But going into the World Cup, Bangladesh will be relieved to see Taskin fit and on top of his game. Probably for the first time in a World Cup, Bangladesh are playing as a pace-heavy team and the right-arm fast bowler will be spearheading the attack.

2023 has been his best year in ODIs if we leave out his debut season. In 11 matches, Taskin has picked up 21 wickets at an average of 16.86. The strike-rate (23.57) and economy rate (4.29) are on the lower side as well. He did not go wicketless in any of the games this year and had some seriously good and pacy spells. 

The thing that has worked for him post-comeback has been his line and length with the new ball. In the last T20 World Cup in Australia, he was one of the bowlers of the tournament in the powerplay. 

He bowled Test-match line and lengths with the new ball in that tournament and his opening spell - albeit wicketless - against India in Adelaide was a treat to the eyes. He was also one of the fastest bowlers of the tournament, clocking 149 kph in one of the matches.

Against England earlier this year, Taskin bowled quite superbly against England and their premier fast bowler Mark Wood praised him, saying Taskin "showed" them how to bowl on these types of surfaces that did not aid fast bowling. Lockie Ferguson, who led New Zealand recently against Bangladesh, revealed he had conversations with Taskin about fast bowling when Bangladesh toured New Zealand. 

A wonderfully gifted fast bowler, Taskin, in 2021, felt he needed to add some variations to his armoury, particularly because he had not been a great bowler with the old ball. He sought help from his long-time captain and mentor Mashrafe Mortaza to learn to bowl cutters. Taskin now has a pretty decent slower ball and developed a deceptive knuckleball as well.

With Mustafizur Rahman no longer an automatic choice, Taskin is the leader of the Bangladesh bowling attack although he doesn't consider himself so. "We, the pace bowlers, are like brothers. We are always helping each other and that's why we are doing well in the last two and a half years," he said earlier this year.

When a bowler like Taskin does well, it uplifts the performances of younger bowlers like Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud. "Taskin bhai is our senior, he looks after us. He tells us to avoid the negatives and look at the positives," Hasan said after his maiden ODI five-for in March against Ireland. 

Since his comeback, he has spoken many times about "following the process" by which he means doing the basics right. He has said it so many times that it has become a cliche but Taskin firmly believes that's the only way to become a world-class fast bowler. He is so adamant that last year he was asked about picking and choosing between formats and he said, "Actually I want to become the best pacer in the world. My time to rest hasn't come yet."

For Bangladesh to get off to a good start in the World Cup, Taskin will be key because the conditions in Dharamsala are tailor-made for him. He has great memories of that ground too. Seven years ago, he defended 16 off the last over against the Netherlands in the 2016 World T20 on that ground. He was in scintillating form in that tournament until receiving a suspension for illegal bowling action. 

It will be a sweet return for him to that part of the world after a turbulent few years. There is no problem with the action now, form is not an issue and thankfully there is no injury as well. In hindsight, Taskin missing out on the 2019 World Cup was not a bad thing for him. The fear of remaining "another average player" from Bangladesh made him one of the players to watch out for in the 2023 World Cup.