Bangladesh pace bowler Taskin Ahmed feels his stint as Durdanto Dhaka captain in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 will help him in the coming days as his game awareness increased due to the added responsibility.
Taskin led Dhaka in five games of BPL and though he could not manage any win but from personal point of view it did lot of good as he is now aware that cricket is not about only performing as a bowler only.
“I did captaincy for the first time and our coach Sujon Sir told me to do that after Mosaddek injured his leg. It was a good experience that it is not only bowling there is field changing and all those things related with captaincy and you need to have extra game awareness and if we could win it would have been good but not a bad experience,” Taskin told the Daily Sun recently.
“Shakib bhai often used to say that those who are going to become senior players in our team, or 5/6 players who have not yet captained, should do captaincy in domestic or BPL to increase game’s awareness. In fact, after doing (captaincy) in these matches I found that I should not always think about my own bowling. There are many other things to see and what to do in what situations etc,” he added.
“Although Sir (Sujon) helped me to change the bowling this time, because I did it for the first time, but still it was a good experience. Because I often used to prepare slowly, now I have to be prepared quickly, have to go to toss quickly, that is why a good game awareness has been made. It will also be helpful for bowling when I certainly play in the future,” he said, adding that like every other cricketer he also dreams to lead the national side someday.
“It (leading Bangladesh team) is not only me every player can have that dream and see there is Shakib bhai, Tamim bhai, Mashrafe bhai and they are inspiration for us and because they have been the captain we also can get motivated and feel that someday we might be the captain. Today there is Shanto and he have a leadership quality and now when I will become (captain) or how I will become captain or even whether I will be the captain or not there is no guarantee but everyone have the dream and I also have that dream and if it happens it will happen but it is not a fact that I will have to be that. I want to play for Bangladesh and remain healthy,” he added.
Taskin, who recently asked the board not to consider him in longer-version cricket (Tests), said that he was disappointed not to see his name in the contract list of the Test category but added that he had to take decision in this regard due to his shoulder injury.
“I really felt bad, to be honest when I saw that I am not in the Test contract I also felt terrible but at the same time I should admit that my family and my wife also requested me (not to play Test). Actually, when a player is injured and he is suffering with pain and could not play, what goes through that player is only known by his family members and no one else sees my pain,” said Taskin.
“The outsiders only see how upset I am? I could not sleep on one side due to soreness and they (family members) said that we not only want you to see as a good player but as a healthy person because we are your family members. They requested me so that I don’t play Test because the situation of my hand is not good and I faced problem at times during the World Cup and at that time my family members requested not to play the Test and then for my tear me and family decided that I want break from Test and if the hand improves I might give a thought again,” he added.
“There is a matter of bowling and fielding for a long time when you play Tests. But when it comes to T20, yes, it’s a high intensity game with a lot of loads but it’s four overs bowling with 20 overs high intensity match and later comes recovery and it is the same with ODIs where you will bowl maximum 10 overs and later there is a chance of recovery. But in Tests, after bowling 20 overs in one day, then I may have to bowl 20 overs the very next day. But I am not in this situation. The thing is due to my hand I cannot give effort in Test and it won’t have effectiveness and there is high risk for me as well and that is the reason I wanted to break from Test and whichever format I play I want to give my hundred percent,” he further added.
“Look I wanted the board not to consider me for longer-version cricket because of my shoulder because there is a big tear and nothing else and everyone in the board along with my teammates and every individual involved in the national team is aware about it. They know that I am really having problems and I am very desperate as far as playing cricket is concerned. I am sure selectors and everyone in the board knows how desperate I am to play cricket but the thing is that still I am not in my best rhythm,” he continued.
“I am struggling from the World Cup and probably I am doing reasonably but I could not give my best and if God forbid the tear increases in my shoulder and I have to go for surgery in that case I will be out for a long time. I can tear it even while playing white ball cricket but the thing is that I have a career. I want to take a chance so that I can play for a long time in white-ball cricket and that is the reason I spoke with the board (for not considering me in red-ball cricket) and they said okey,” he concluded, who picked 11 wickets in the ongoing BPL.
