‘I want to bowl 365 days a year’

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed has had a troubled history with injuries. An ankle injury ruled him out for the 2019 World Cup, and most recently, a side strain saw the quick miss the One-Day International series against Ireland.

That has led to the team management thinking about managing his game time to keep him fit and ready for the World Cup down the year.

Although if it was up to Taskin, he would bowl 365 days a year.

“I want to bowl 365 days a year. But the body cannot take the workload. The board will decide on that (workload management),” he told the media on Tuesday.

The pacer said he needed to get fitter to play all three formats regularly.

“No (the workload does not become too much playing three formats). A lot of pacers play all three formats. Maybe I just need to get fitter,” Taskin said.

The pacer added that it was impossible to play safe keeping big tournaments ahead in mind, especially being a fast bowler.

“It’s not possible for me to play safe. When I have the ball in hand, playing safe goes out the window. Plus, I’m a fast bowler. It’s a pride to play for my country. So, when I take the field, the thought of whether there are big events coming up completely goes out of my head,” he said.

Regarding the World Cup, for which Taskin is being dealt with caution by the team management, the pacer said it would be challenging but had the belief that they could overcome that.

“The wickets in India are generally good for batting. Good thing about that is doing well there would boost our confidence. If we can let go of the fear of failure, it will be good for us. If we can apply our full rhythm, then it’s possible to do well. It’s challenging, sure, but one which we will take,” Taskin said.

Bangladesh are hoping of good results in the upcoming World Cup courtesy of their pace-bowling unit, which features Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, and Ebadot Hossain alongside Taskin.

The 28-year-old pacer believes that the pace unit has achieved this feat through hard work, and is willing to work harder to keep themselves prepared.

“There is a lot of hard work behind this (pacers performing regularly). There is very little chatter about the pace unit. God forbid, if we don’t do well, those will be there again. We don’t want it to happen. So that everybody plays well and stays fit.

“Every pacer wants to do well. There are a lot of challenging matches ahead. The conditions will not be easy, they will be sporting or batting-friendly. So, it will be a challenge for the pacers and spinners. For that, we need to prepare ourselves better,” Taskin said.