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How Bangladesh Dug Their Own Grave By Dropping Taskin Ahmed For Big Match vs India

Aashay Chopade

Taskin Ahmed for Bangladesh (Source: AFP)Taskin Ahmed for Bangladesh (Source: AFP)

Taskin Ahmed has been one of the pillars of the Bangladesh bowling attack for the last decade or so. He has been battling injuries, but whenever he is fully fit, he has done well more often than not and has played a big role in Bangladesh's famous wins.

Bangladesh's Strange Choice In Big India Encounter

In the ongoing Asia Cup too, he has been in good form and has delivered some quality spells of fast bowling. Thus, it was expected that he would feature in the playing XI against India, a crucial Super 4 encounter. However, the Bangladesh team management decided to drop one of the most experienced pace bowlers in a game where they are already without captain Litton Das.

As soon as Taskin's name was not seen in the team sheet, many predicted dangerous implications for Bangladesh. Exactly that happened, on a fresh pitch that is good for batting but also had some help for the pacers early on.

India Dominate In Powerplay In Absence Of Bangladesh's New-Ball Exponent

Taskin Ahmed's great strength over the years has been his ability to make the new ball talk and hand Bangladesh early breakthroughs. It becomes even more important against a team like India, which can destroy bowling attacks if they are allowed to settle without going after them with an aggressive mindset. Thus, the presence of Taskin would have been a big boost for Bangladesh as he could have eked out any help that was on offer with the new ball in Dubai.

Tanzim Hasan Sakib did bowl well and gave away just 10 runs in his opening spell of two overs, but lacked support from the other end. Thus, if Bangladesh had Taskin Ahmed, they could have attacked from both ends and could have got some wickets in the Powerplay, which would have helped them put early pressure on a strong Indian team.

Instead, they decided to drop their best bet with the new ball, and the duo of Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill managed to score 72 runs in the Powerplay. It is the second-most for India against Bangladesh in T20Is and it shows that the Tigers lacked the firepower with the new ball.

Bangladesh Show Defensive Mindset Against Mighty Indians

Taskin Ahmed has also picked five wickets in three matches in this Asia Cup, while he has the experience of playing seven T20Is against India before. His form in 2025 has also been brilliant, as he has grabbed 17 wickets in eight matches, proving himself as a genuine wicket-taker. Instead, Bangladesh went with Mohammad Saifuddin who was completely ineffective and leaked 33 runs in his two overs.

In all probability, the reason for Taskin's omission from the official side would be that he has been rested as part of his workload management. However, if that is the reason, it shows Bangladesh's lack of trust in their ability to beat India. It also shows that they want to save Taskin Ahmed for matches where he can make more impact and they have a realistic chance of winning the game.

Thus, Bangladesh, with their defensive mindset, dug their hole even before the start of the game against the mighty Indians.