Bangladesh have been given a major boost as pacer Taskin Ahmed hopes to get fit ahead of their first game of the ongoing T20 World Cup. The Tigers are scheduled to take on their Asian neighbours Sri Lanka on Saturday, June 7, in Dallas, TX.
Taskin is the vice-captain of the squad and was named in the side despite sustaining a rib fracture in the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe played in Bangladesh ahead of the World Cup. The board is hopeful of his swift recovery.
“Taskin so far the way he progressed, Alhamdulillah [praise be to God]. He progressed well. We have made some day-to-day plans for him. He was expected to bowl on June 3. We planned for him to bowl outdoors. Because it was raining, we could not do that. According to the schedule, it was essential for him to bowl, so we brought him indoors. He bowled on the 1st and today on the 3rd, and we are happy that he is in a better position,” BCB’s physio Bayjedul Islam Bayezid said.
“He is looking good, and we capture every session to analyze. He carries a GPS meter where we can see how much effort he is making and what is happening with him as we monitor him in detail. If we see any fluctuation, we work with it, but so far, he is progressing well, and today, he made a better effort. He is expected to give more effort the next day,” he said.
Bangladesh will hope that Taskin is ready for their opening game. They will also have to make it without the left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam. He sustained six stitches to his hand in a freak injury in their warm-up game against India last Saturday.
“Taskin has a good chance (for the first match), which is why he is in the World Cup squad. Usually, these kinds of injuries take four weeks to heal, and at times, it can get a bit late, but his progress is good,” he said.
“He will have another bowling session before the opening game against Sri Lanka. If we can do that outdoors, it is perfect. He is expected to bowl with full run-up and intensity, and after seeing that session, we can say whether he is available or not,” he said.
“It will depend on his current form, and only after seeing that decision will be made. He has no complaints to date, and we hope he will get better each day,” he said. “We are hopeful that he will be a hundred percent fit by June 7.”
While maintaining that Taskin was on his way towards full recovery, Islam said that Shoriful was all but ruled out for the first game. This will be a massive blow to the Tigers, but they will have to make do with it as they have another left-arm seamer in their ranks – Mustafizur Rahman.
“Look for the group stage. We have time till June 16 and hope he will recover before that date. Usually, when these kinds of stitches are done, the healing is completed in seven to ten days and later, it depends on the players. Today, we will open the stitch and see the healing, and the doctor gave us some medication and suggestions. We will follow up with him after three to four days to understand his progress. Based upon that, the final decision will be made,” Bayjedul said.
