‘Taskin’s improvement is very good and satisfying’ – Bangladesh confident of fast bowler’s recovery in time for T20 World Cup

Taskin Ahmed of Bangladesh. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Bangladesh’s Taskin Ahmed was enjoying a resurgence, topping the wicket charts with eight dismissals in half the matches in the T20I series against Zimbabwe with a phenomenally impressive economy of 4.56. However, just as he hit his stride, tragedy struck with a displaced rib fracture on the right side, sidelining him from the series’ final match and raising uncertainties about his availability for Bangladesh’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA.

Bangladesh expects the pace bowler to recover in time for their T20 World Cup 2024 curtain-raiser against Sri Lanka. Despite traveling with the team for the ongoing T20I series against the USA as part of the 15-member squad, the right-arm pacer had been sidelined from the first two games and will remain absent for the third as he undergoes a rehabilitation program in the USA.

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Debashish Chowdhury, chief physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, informed on May 24 that Taskin’s recovery showed significant improvement and satisfying progress. He mentioned that Taskin has been undergoing gym and running sessions alongside the rehabilitation process. Additionally, after an MRI scan on May 23, it was revealed that the rupture had been corrected. Chowdhury mentioned plans for throwing sessions followed by bowling with a short run-up with a gradual increment in intensity, expressing optimism about Taskin’s full fitness for Bangladesh’s opening game against Sri Lanka on June 7.

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“Taskin’s improvement is very good and satisfying. He is going through a rehabilitation process and undergoing gym training. He is doing running sessions and we will introduce bowling later. We just got the reports [of the MRI scan] and talked to the doctor, and it seemed the fracture is almost healed and now we will slowly introduce him to short run-up bowling and later increase the intensity. He is not having any problem with running and now we will be doing throwing sessions in the coming days before starting to bowl with short run-ups.

“We are hopeful he will be available from the opening game of the World Cup if he continues to progress in this manner,” remarked Chowdhury as per Cricbuzz.

Hasan Mahmud, the paceman initially named in the squad for the three-match T20I series, was also listed as a reserve player for the marquee event in case Taskin’s recovery proved unsuccessful.