I don't want to destroy Taskin's career: Chandika Hathurusingha

Bangladesh Cricket team’s head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has clearly shown his discontentment over the inclusion of fast bowler Taskin Ahmed in the BCB XI side for the practice Test against England. Apparently, chief selector Minhajul Abedin had endorsed the move with an eye to his Test potential.

“Has he played any four-day cricket?” was the slightly irritated answer from head coach Chandika Hathurusingha yesterday when asked whether young fast bowler Taskin Ahmed may feature in Bangladesh’s Test squad for the series against England.

Taskin has very little experience playing in the longer format. He played the last of his ten first-class matches in February 2013, a year before his international debut. It’s been almost three and a half year since he played in a four-day game. Hathurusingha says that he doesn’t want to “destroy” Taskin’s career by making him play a format that he is not unaccustomed.

“If you haven’t played four-day cricket in your entire life, standing four days on the field and bowling 15 overs is entirely new for him. I don’t want to destroy somebody’s career,” the coach said, ending discussion of Taskin’s Test credentials for the time being.

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Interestingly, Hathurusingha is part of the selection committee that has selected Taskin. Apart from Minhajul and Hathurusingha, the committee also includes the selectors Habibul Bashar and Sajjad Ahmed, as well as the cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan and team manager Khaled Mahmud.

The formation of this expanded committee is controversial as it requires the coach, operations chairman and manager to oversee the squad picked by the selectors, before the BCB president Nazmul Hassan approves it.

Minhajul, who was appointed chief selector three days after Faruque quit said on Friday that Taskin’s inclusion in the warm-up match against England is the “first step” towards bringing him to the longer-version. Taskin has played 20 ODIs and 13 T20s for Bangladesh since his international debut in 2014.

“We have decided to include Taskin in the squad for the second practice match as we want to see how his body responds to longer-version cricket,” Minhajul said. “We had initially planned to see him in the fourth round of the National Cricket League but as it’s been deferred we changed our plans.

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“We need a bowler like Taskin for our Test team but you all know there was concerned with the strength of his body and fitness was a big issue. But he bowled brilliantly after coming back from suspension and looked good. He has no complaints about his fitness, so we have decided to take the first step of bringing him into the fold of longer-version cricket.”