Injured fast bowler Taskin Ahmed is eager to regain his fitness and return to the Bangladesh one-day international fold before they face South Africa as the 20-year old expressed that the new set of International Cricket Council rules will be of great help to the quick bowlers.
The right-arm quickie was ruled out of the third ODI against India, for three weeks, after Bangladesh had secured their maiden series win over the two-time world champions, with a side-strain.
The ICC recently demolished the “batting power-play” and allowed five fielders to be positioned outside the 30-yard circle in the final 10 overs of an innings. Any kind of no-ball, height or stepping fault, will also be awarded as a free-hit to the batsman.
“I think it will be helpful for us, I mean for the bowlers as it brings a balance between the bowlers and the batters when it comes to the competitiveness in the game of cricket,” Taskin told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
“Earlier, it was a bit tough for us to contain runs in the latter stage of a match with the batting power-play but now we can set the fielders according to where we want to bowl,” he added.
Emphasising on his recovery, Taskin said, “My condition is improving very quickly and I am hoping to start bowling at the nets this week. There might not be enough pace in my bowling initially but my main goal is to return to the national side before the ODI series as it will be tough for me to get fit before the T20 series. But I don’t want to miss the ODI series.”
South Africa are scheduled to arrive tomorrow to play a full bilateral series containing two T20s, three ODIs and a two-match Test series. The month-long home series will be a tough one for the Tigers as Taskin believes the Proteas are stronger than their recent opponent India.
“Both are world class sides. India are ahead in the ODI rankings but South Africa are also a very strong team and they have already proved their ability to adopt (in different conditions) and played brilliantly in the sub-continent. Our bowlers and batters both have to do well (only) then we can expect a positive result. However, South Africa’s bowling department is much stronger than the Indian side and their batting is extraordinary,” added Taskin.