Taskin wants to sit out from Tests

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed wants to sit out upcoming Test assignments owing to injuries he has been dealing with since the recent ODI World Cup in India.

Taskin had sat out the Tests at home against New Zealand recently and the subsequent white-ball tour of New Zealand.

Taskin's shoulder injury, which had occurred during the South Africa tour in 2022, flared up at the ODI World Cup in India, which made him miss a couple of matches.

While T20 cricket is feasible under his current workload management, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) medical department wanted to see how he fares in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) before making any further plans.

"Taskin has been playing [in BPL] managing his shoulder injury," said Jalal Yunus, BCB cricket operations chairman, today. 

"He is playing as much as it is possible for him to while undergoing a conservative treatment. That's why we rested him previously as well. What happened now is that he sent us a letter informing us that he would like not to be considered for the upcoming Tests [against Sri Lanka next month] considering the forthcoming white-ball matches and the [T20] World Cup. He wants to skip the longer format for now to prepare better for the World Cup," Jalal added.  

He returned to action with BPL and had recently suffered from a stiff back during a match while playing for Durdanto Dhaka against Rangpur Riders.

He did not complete his quota of overs in that game but played the game against Sylhet Strikers yesterday.

He had relayed at the press conference yesterday that his rhythm was getting better since rehabilitation following the World Cup but he was yet to reach his best shape.

Taskin had said that during the World Cup, he and the team management decided to hold off on surgery and instead manage his issues through conservative injury management.

The ligament in his shoulder is at risk of tearing further, which would require surgery and put him out of action for a long period.

Hence, the pacer wants to skip Tests and focus on white-ball formats.

The BCB medical department, however, claimed that the pacer has yet to inform the medical department about it.

"No, he [Taskin] hasn't communicated or complained about the injury. He was allowed to take part in BPL to see how he fares in T20s. We will get the feedback from him, his trainers, and his physios on the matter," BCB chief physician Dr. Debashish Chowdhury told The Daily Star today.