Since the pacer made his first appearance for his country on the international stage, injury and Taskin Ahmed have been inextricably linked to one another.
Taskin, who is currently recovering from a side strain injury, is gearing up to return even stronger. The 28-year-old, who has been a revolution in the Tigers pace bowling unit, spoke about his bowling, plans over the upcoming World Cup, and a few other topics during an exclusive interview with The Daily Star’s Mazhar Uddin. Uddin spoke with Taskin about his bowling, plans over the upcoming World Cup, and a few other topics.
The following are snippets from the interview that were taken:
Where do you stand now in terms of your healing process?
TA stands for Taskin Ahmed. The road to recovery is being traveled successfully, praise be to Allah. Bowling is something that I started doing earlier this week.
MA: Were you dismayed to learn that you would have to sit out yet another couple of series due to injury, despite being in good rhythm?
TA: Without a doubt, it feels horrible if I have to miss any series, and if it is because of an injury, then clearly it feels bad for me as a player. However, this is a normal part of a cricketer’s career, and I have faith that whatever the outcome, it will be for the best. I make an effort to not dwell on that letdown for too long and instead focus on continuing with the process.
MA: You have proven to be resilient in the face of adversity in the past. How challenging is it for a fast bowler to go back into full rhythm after recovering from an injury that requires continual rehabilitation?
TA: If I’m being really honest, it may be challenging to come back into full rhythm after an injury of any kind since it only begins to get better after you achieve match fitness. However, it is difficult, and you need practice patience and wait rather than becoming dissatisfied if things don’t go smoothly in the beginning and instead concentrate on the process. After healing from the damage, having patience is therefore quite necessary.
MA: What are some of the areas in which you and your personal mind trainer work together?
TA: Well, as individuals, we all have our own unique mentalities and feelings, and the subject matter of our work together with the mind trainer is strictly secret.
However, this is definitely a very beneficial facet of an athlete, and although it may not be as common in Bangladesh as it is in other countries, it is definitely something that should be considered. It makes no difference if you are going through a difficult moment or a pleasant time; having a mind trainer is crucial in many phases of our lives.
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the performance of our fast bowlers in the Ireland series.
TA: I believe that we did fairly well overall in the Ireland series, but I believe that we are capable of doing much better than this.
However, this is not a problem since we will have a variety of experiences under a variety of circumstances, and the more we play in such circumstances, the more we will learn. I won’t say that we did a terrible job, but it also wasn’t very good, and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to learn something new.
MA: In addition to your bowling talents, the young pacers on the squad are watching you to learn how to enhance their batting skills. They are following in your footsteps.
TA: Well, bowling is obviously the most important talent for the bowlers, but if we can enhance our batting, it would assist our team in the long run. If you watch global cricket, you’ll find that the majority of the players who were once considered “tail enders” are now making significant contributions, and the bowling group has been discussing this phenomenon.
There is no difficulty if we are able to put in some effort to improve our batting and receive assistance from our batting instructors and fellow players. As a result, the primary objective is to make a contribution in the event that there is an early collapse and to provide assistance for the batsman who is now at the crease. I am making an effort to do that, but I still have a lot to learn, and I believe that, bearing in mind the nature of modern cricket, it is essential for the bowling unit to be able to bat as well.
MA: Do you have any personal goals in mind for this year’s main event, the One-Day International World Cup, which will take place later this year?
TA: I am not going to discuss my strategy for the World Cup at this time; but, I will reveal it when the time is appropriate to do so. But reaching the World Cup final is our first objective, and we will only consider that a success if all of our players remain in good condition.
MA: Now that you’re one of the most experienced bowlers on the Tigers team, what do you expect from India’s fast bowling unit when it comes to the World Cup?
TA: While in India, I competed in the Twenty20 World Cup as well as a test match. However, there are not many grounds in India that are conducive to batting, so it is going to be difficult for the pacers. India has always had sports wickets. However, if we are able to put together a strong performance with the bowling unit that we have, we will be in a position to give any team a difficult time.
We are getting better, and we still have another four or five months until the world cup, so we are going to work hard to raise our skill levels to the next level, and I have high expectations that we can accomplish something truly remarkable in the world cup.