Zimbawe tour of Bangladesh, 2024 - Series Digest

May 12

Taskin suffers side strain

Bangladesh received an injury scare ahead of the forthcoming three-match T20Is against the USA and the T20WC as Taskin Ahmed sustained a side strain while warming up before the final T20I against Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.

Taskin received a stretch fracture and is unlikely to make it to the World Cup though BCB is waiting for his medical report. Bangladesh Cricket Board is yet to announce the squad for the World Cup and it is understood that the team management is waiting for the outcome of Taskin's injury.

"He (Taskin) suffered a side strain and in the evening we will take him to hospital for a scan and later we can say about the severity of his injury," BCB chief physician Debashish Chowdhury told Cricbuzz on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain on Sunday insisted that there was no complacency as they failed to complete a clean sweep against Zimbabwe in the five-match T20I series. The visitors earned a consolation win as they defeated the hosts by eight wickets in the series-concluding game at SBNS.

"I think we had a very good series. A series win definitely raised our confidence levels. I am satisfied with the experiments we did and the things we needed to see since we won in close matches," Najmul told reporters following the defeat at SBNS on Sunday.

"We were serious in all the games. We didn't want to lose a game. We couldn't win today and the credit. goes to Zimbabwe," he said. "The top-order gave a very good start in one game. If we look at today's game, the middle-order got the chance to bat. There are a few areas like that. I think Rishad bowled well throughout the series. From that perspective, there are many positives and we almost got close to the things we wished for," he said.

"We had a few close games and in those scenarios, we practised how the bowlers would execute their plans and how calm we can be. You could say that in those close matches, the game was in their hands and we were able to come back in those games. The way we did that is a positive which will work well for us in the tournament," he said.

Najmul said that he does not believe that the World T20 would be a high-scoring affair like it is the case in the ongoing Indian Premier League, where even scores above 200 were not safe enough to defend.

"I don't think so ( it will be high-scoring affair in the World Cup) since you can't equate the kind of wickets in the IPL with international cricket. In last year's PSL, runs were scored this way and teams got 200-plus or even 250-plus scores. From what I understand, in international cricket scores of 175 to 180 scores are good. I think in the World Cup we will see 160-180 scores," said Najmul.

May 12 - 5th T20I