Bangladesh vice-captain and pacer Taskin Ahmed has been caught up in a fresh controversy as he had overslept and missed the team bus ahead of the Tigers’ Super Eight clash against India in the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies.
Taskin himself, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, and Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan confirmed the development.
‘When I saw Taskin was not in the XI, I called Rabeed [Imam, the media manager of BCB] and asked him why he was not included. He told me that Taskin missed the team bus but has arrived at the stadium,’ the BCB president told the media after a directors’ meeting at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Tuesday.
However, what has created confusion about the issue is how late Taskin was, as there have been two different renditions of his situation.
The first part, though, stays the same. Taskin overslept on the morning of the match in Antigua and thus was not present at the team bus set to leave for the venue.
However, the timing of his delay has had two different versions. One from Taskin and the other from Shakib.
And that has only caused the conundrum to expand further, as according to the vice-captain, he was not selected in the XI before the incident even took place, while the veteran suggested that it was difficult to select him because the pacer arrived late.
Taskin, in an interview with a local daily, stated that he had arrived at the stadium more than half an hour before the toss.
‘I missed the team bus. The bus was scheduled to leave at 8:30am. The bus left at 8:35am. I started at 8:43am in a car. I arrived a bit late. It was not that I was not picked because I was late. I was not picked for some other reason,’ he said in that interview.
Shakib, though, had a different statement.
‘Taskin reached the stadium around five to 10 minutes before the toss. So, very normally, it was difficult for the team management to select him,’ the all-rounder said.
‘Taskin has apologised to the team for this. The team has accepted it. People can make mistakes unintentionally. He accepted it, and that’s that.’
Bangladesh ended up fielding a side with two pacers and conceding 196-5 on their way to a 50-run defeat.
BCB, though, are not taking any immediate action against Taskin.
‘I can talk to him and ask why he was late. I think the best report would come from the concerned department,’ BCB president Nazmul said.
