Taskin savors player of the series award

Bangladesh paceman Taskin Ahmed was named joint winner of the player of the series award alongside the West Indian pacer Jayden Seales, a reward for his hard work of late.

 

The Tigers Tuesday sealed a series-levelling 101-run win in the second and final match - their first Test victory in the Caribbean in 15 years – and Taskin played a key role, picking up series-leading 11 wickets.

The right-arm pace bowler bagged three wickets in Kingston, Jamaica and eight in the first Test in Antigua, including career-best 6/64 in the second innings.

The 29-year old made his One Day International and Twenty20 international debuts in 2014 but had to wait three more years for his Test bow.

And since his Test debut in 2017, he has only played 16 more in seven years due to injuries and fitness management in his stop-start career.

Taskin said he was happy to have made a contribution as his latest comeback helped Bangladesh to their third away Test win in 2024, the Tigers' highest in a year.

"I'm really happy for this. Glad to come back to Test cricket because I had a bad shoulder. It wasn't easy to script a comeback. It is paying off,” he said in the presentation ceremony after day four, alluding to the hard work behind the scenes.

He also heaped praise on the ever-improving Bangladesh pace arsenal after his colleague, youngster Nahid Rana claimed his maiden five-for in the West Indies’ first innings of the second Test.

“Especially last three years you can see our fast-bowling side is improving. We are working together in every series. We are working really hard. Because of the processes we are following, we are getting better. Hopefully in a few years we'll have more pace bowlers. I enjoyed the battle, after the game we are all friends," said Taskin.