Taskin Ahmed

The leader of Bangladesh's fast-bowling attack in the post-Mashrafe Mortaza era, Taskin Ahmed had two phases in his international career: before and after injuries and poor form forced him into the wilderness for three years. He was quick but often erratic in his first phase, but when he made his comeback in 2021, he had matured into a disciplined fast bowler, and went on to rank among Bangladesh's top wicket-takers in the white-ball formats

After suffering a panic attack when his cricket-playing future became uncertain because of the Covid pandemic during his time out of the side, Taskin enlisted a gym instructor and a fast-bowling coach and went around locked-down Dhaka looking for training facilities; he even ran on sand on the city's outskirts to keep his fitness up. After his comeback he slowly built himself up under fast-bowling coach Ottis Gibson, and then improved under Gibson's successor, Allan Donald. Though he had to contend with a shoulder injury in 2023, Taskin had become so dependable by then that he was named Najmul Hossain Shanto's deputy for the T20 World Cup in 2024.

Taskin burst onto the scene after a YouTube clip of him as an Under-19 bowler became popular. Shane Jurgensen, Bangladesh's head coach at the time, gave the youngster a T20I debut during the T20 World Cup in 2014, and an ODI debut came a couple of months later, against India, when he became the first Bangladesh bowler to take a five-for on ODI debut.

Taskin had a great 2016-17 season, taking 20 ODI wickets, but then came the injuries and poor form that kept him out for more than three years. He made a poor start in Tests, but improved, taking 13 wickets in three matches in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in 2021. In the drawn Test series in the West Indies in 2024, he skittled the home side out for 152 in their second innings with an impressive 6 for 64.