Bangladesh has been in great touch of late in their backyard and one of the major weapons of destabilizing their opposition had come on the top of some excellent fast bowling. One of the chief architects of Bangladesh’s fast bowling has been none other than Taskin Ahmed, the man who also troubled India during their tour.
After his recent triumph against England, there was a flurry of comments raining about him and the man opened up on how he has been channelising his energy, bringing forth his very own steam infront of the world and also England, for sure.
Talking about Taskin Ahmed’s recent displays, Taskin Ahmed said, “I have always wanted to be a complete team man since I made a comeback during Covid – as a bowler, batter and fielder. I want to give my best, but of course, it won’t happen all the time. I have a strong belief that if my process is in place, I can take on any opposition. Everything is decided on those 22 yards, regardless of who you are playing against, so whoever the opposition batter, I want to properly execute my strength. When that happens, life won’t be easy for the batter.”
He also said at length about his phenomenal spell against England, adding, “Wickets aren’t really the measure of good bowling. Sometimes you don’t bowl well but end up with three or four wickets. It is all about execution. End of the day, I have to ask myself if I have given my 110% in the field – how my execution was, what areas I can improve on. These are personal check boxes. When these three fields are ticked, I am not too bothered about wickets. That was a spell that went according to the team’s requirement in those conditions. It is a team game, so if you can execute the team’s plan, you are a good player.”
Here is what Taskin Ahmed had to say about his growth as the fast bowler
On his growth as fast bowler, Taskin Ahmed said, “Whoever has the ball in hand is the bowling leader. I am not competing with my team-mates. We are family. If a group of us are improving together, we will become a threat to opponents. We are around 60-70% there. I want to compete with the top fast bowlers in the world. I am preparing myself physically, mentally and skill-wise.”
He also shed some light on his training regime, stating, “When I started to train at the start of the pandemic, I wasn’t in the national team. I tried to find what I was lacking. I had below-average fitness. I wasn’t there skill-wise. I wasn’t fielding or batting well. It was hard to comprehend how I was going to play for Bangladesh again. But I had the belief that I could play – I didn’t just think about it, I turned it into action.”
He continued, “After a few months my fitness was developing, but what about my depression, anxiety, negativity? Those weren’t going away. I went to mind-trainer Sabit Raihan. I am still working with him. I am trying to develop my mentality. I am still fearful of being left out of the team, but I am working on how to get rid of the fear of failure. You can never win if you fear losing before the contest even starts.”
Taskin Ahmed doesn’t want anything negative in his life
Taskin continued, “I want to be positive in every aspect of my life. Negative company, negative words, really irritate me. My system has changed, so when someone is being negative, I either change the topic or leave. Working with Sabit and Debu da was really enriching. I had phone conversations with BCB director Khaled Mahmud Sujon sir and former bowling coach Mahbub Ali Zaki sir.”
He concluded by saying, “I used places like the garage and the staircase of my house for training. I took gym equipment from the BCB. I did bowling drills, wristwork. Those were the small steps. I ran in the sand after early morning Fazr prayers. I had insane gym sessions after fasting the whole day during Ramadan. The trainer used to push me to the point where I thought I would break, but I didn’t give up. I thought to myself, I am dead inside seeing the team play on TV. I thought this is it – whether I break or I die, whatever happens, I will wear the red and green jersey again. I have come to believe that if someone really wants something from the heart, it can turn into his strength.”
