For a long time, it was Mashrafe Bin Mortaza who bore the responsibility of delivering Bangladesh’s first ball of an innings. Times have changed, Mashrafe has faded from the scene, and gradually that role has passed on to Taskin Ahmed. Over the past few years, this right-arm pacer has been at the forefront of a transformation in Bangladesh’s pace bowling culture. Not only does he open the bowling, but he also leads the pace unit.
Like many pacers, Taskin has had a long-standing relationship with injuries. His career has seen no shortage of setbacks. Accepting that reality, he took a break from Test cricket—but even then, the injuries didn’t leave him alone. Most recently, he suffered due to bone spurs in his left ankle, an issue that began during the West Indies tour late last year. He played through the pain in the BPL and the Champions Trophy, but could not continue beyond that. After just three appearances in the DPL, he was forced to step away again.
Taskin missed the Test series against Zimbabwe in April and was also ruled out of back-to-back tours of the UAE and Pakistan. Initially, surgery was suggested, but after a visit to a specialist in England, a different plan was advised. Given that surgery could not guarantee full recovery, it was deemed better to manage the pain through rest and workload control. Taskin has been following that plan ever since.
Over the four-month break, Taskin bulked up slightly. Watching him run in to bowl during Wednesday’s first ODI against Sri Lanka, it was evident he had put on a bit of weight. But it took him just one over to prove that the break had done little to dull his effectiveness. He bowled a maiden in the very first over of the innings, constantly hitting the good length or just short of it, probing the off stump and the channel just outside it—areas that most discomfort batters.
He didn’t have to wait long for success. In his third over, he bowled two consecutive deliveries on a good length. The third, also of similar length but slightly wider, was driven by Nishan Madushka—but only onto his own stumps. Taskin had likely noticed Madushka’s poor footwork against those deliveries, and cleverly stuck to a line outside off in the hope of inducing either an inside edge or a catch to the slips.
One over later, he struck again—this time with the very first ball. The formula? Another length ball. New batter Kamindu Mendis was on strike. Taskin bowled a pacy off-cutter that gripped the surface, and in attempting a drive, the left-hander gifted a catch to Mehidy Hasan Miraz at mid-off. The disciplined length, combined with some extra bounce, undid Kamindu’s judgment.
Taskin bowled across three spells in the match. In his second spell, returning in the 24th over, he gave away a six to Charith Asalanka from a ball in the slot. Despite bowling two overs for 14 runs, he went wicketless in that spell. He returned again in the death overs. In the 42nd over, he was struck for two boundaries by Wanindu Hasaranga—one from a short delivery, the other a fine yorker. But it was Taskin who eventually dismissed the dangerous Hasaranga, again with a perfectly placed length ball outside the fifth stump. Trying to hit it over long-on, Hasaranga was caught by substitute fielder Shamim Hossain. The final wicket was that of Maheesh Theekshana—caught by Zakir Ali off a top edge while trying to fend off a back-of-a-length delivery.
Taskin finished with figures of 10-2-47-4. Considering the context of a comeback, it was a performance worthy of full marks. In the powerplay, his opening spell rattled the Sri Lankan top order. He may have gone wicketless in the middle, but remained economical. And in the death overs, he claimed two wickets in three overs for 19 runs. Sri Lanka were eventually restricted to just 244.
Behind that impressive spell lay careful groundwork and intelligent planning, drawn from past experience. The conditions posed a stiff challenge: Sri Lanka’s sweltering heat, flat wickets, and the in-form batters. Though the Premadasa pitch is flat, it does offer a bit of swing and seam movement early on. But given the dryness due to the heat, relying solely on pace was never going to be enough. Taskin wisely stuck to good and back-of-a-length deliveries, making minimal compromises on pace. And that strategy paid off.
Unfortunately, on a day when Taskin shone, Bangladesh’s batters collapsed in shocking fashion—losing 7 wickets for just 5 runs. The Tigers eventually lost the match by 77 runs. For pacers like Taskin, life is hard enough. Sometimes, it’s made even harder by the failures of their own batters.