“Taskin is not playing,” said Bangladesh captain Najmul Hasan Shanto after winning the toss against India in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 fixture a week ago. It was a must-win game for Bangladesh but their vice-captain just couldn’t make it. Days after the conclusion of the showpiece event in the Caribbean, it was learned that the veteran fast bowler overslept and couldn’t board the team bus to the venue on time.
According to Cricbuzz, Taskin couldn’t get on time and reached the venue a few minutes before the toss. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) asked an official to stay back in the hotel after failing to reach out to the pacer as he wasn’t picking up the phone.
“It is true that he (Taskin) joined the team later after missing the team bus,” the report quoted a source as saying.
“But why he did not play only the coach can say because whether he was in the plan or not (against India) is something that can be answered by the head coach (Chandika Hathurusingha),” he added.
Taskin Responds
The pacer himself has opened up on missing out on the game against India. Speaking to a Bangladesh daily, Taskin admitted getting late and missing the team but also asserted that wasn’t the reason he was benched in the game against India.
“I was a little late, but I reached the ground before the toss,” Taskin told Dhaka-based newspaper Ajker Patrika.
“I arrived at the ground around 30-40 minutes before the toss. I missed the team bus. The bus left the hotel at 8.35 am. I left for the ground at 8.43 am. I almost reached the ground with the bus. It is not as if they didn’t pick me up because I arrived late. I wasn’t going to play anyway,” he added.
Taskin’s absence raised many questions about team selection. The Bangladesh management had replaced him with Jaker Ali for the game while Mahedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan opened the bowling attack against India.
Taskin Apologsied for Being Late
Speaking with Cricbuzz, former captain Shakib al Hasan revealed that Taskin Ahmed had apologised to his teammates for missing the game against India.
“The team bus starts at a certain point and there is a rule for cricketers that team bus does not stop for anyone and if anyone misses it in that case he comes in the next car. The manager’s car or a taxi is there and the support of transport was difficult in the West Indies. When Taskin arrived it was five to 10 minutes before the toss and certainly it was difficult to pick him at that point in the team and it was difficult for him as well,” Shakib was quoted as saying by the website.
“Taskin apologized to the team for that afterwards and everyone in the team took it normally because anyone can commit an unintentional mistake and he accepted it and the thing ended at that point of time,” he said.
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