'Pace is my strength'

Taskin Ahmed has gone through several ups and downs in the last one year. It just seemed like every time he hit top gear, an injury would peg him back.

Therefore, to see him steam in and perform the way he has in the Asia Cup so far has been a delight for many of his fans. In a way, it was his performance yesterday that helped the Tigers overcome the absence of Mustafizur Rahman.

His bowling figures against Pakistan read 1 for 14, but the best part is that he had given away just two runs in his first three overs.

“My strength is my pace and all I tried to do was bowl fast and land the ball on my desired position on the wicket. I knew that if I could bowl in the right areas it would be difficult for the batsman.

“No matter what happened, I was adamant on bowling the right line and I was able to execute my plan. I guess that's why I didn't give too many runs,” said Taskin.

His bowling might have been impeccable yesterday, but just a few months ago, the scenario was a bit different.

He struggled during the Bangladesh Premier League as he was in the process of recovering from an injury. His poor performance also led to him missing out on the first three matches against Zimbabwe after the BPL. He was included in the last game, in which he bowled reasonably well and that paved the way for his return to the World Twenty20 squad.

“During the BPL I wasn't in good shape. I think apart from a few games, I couldn't bowl well in the league. And then in the Zimbabwe series I think I was alright. It was only after that that things changed.

“The training camps in Chittagong and Khulna helped me a lot. My workload was increased a lot and I spent extra hours practising. That helped me execute my plans,” said Taskin.

“And honestly speaking, when you play for your country, you find that extra enthusiasm that drives you,” he added.

While he has bowled well in the tournament, he hasn't managed to scalp the number of wickets he deserved, mainly due to some poor fielding. It therefore was not a surprise to see Taskin a tad nervous when he forced Umar Akmal to hit one in the air during the game on Wednesday.

“When that ball went up the air I was just praying that please make him [Shakib Al Hasan] catch the ball. I was just a bit tense because a number of catches were dropped off my bowling prior to that,” a smiling Taskin explained.

Taskin thinks it a big honour to be able to play in the Asia Cup final, and believes the Tigers can beat India if they play their best.