Taskin Ahmed marked his return to cricket in style as he took 4-47 in their first one-day international against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka were all out for 244 in 49.2 overs despite captain Charith Asalanka鈥檚 106 off 123 balls.
Many things happened in Bangladesh cricket during the pacer鈥檚 absence during his recovery from an Achilles heel injury since March this year.
Aminul Islam replaced Faruque Ahmed as the BCB president, while Taskin would be playing under three new captains in three formats.
During Taskin鈥檚 last Test, Mehidy Hasan Miraz was stand-in captain with regular captain Najmul Hossain Shanto injured.
Shanto has recently resigned from the role after he was sacked as ODI captain, a role that was since handed over to Mehidy. Liton Das was the T20 captain during Taskin鈥檚 last outing, but that was also in an interim capacity.
As far as management is concerned, Taskin had a lot to get accustomed to. But in the field, his performance remained the same.
He came to open the bowling after Bangladesh were asked to field first.
The right-hand pacer started with a maiden. He continued his accuracy in line and lengths and got the reward soon.
Opener Nishan Madushka was chopped on after Tanzim Hasan had dismissed other opener Pathum Nissanka in the previous over.
Taskin had Kamindu Mendis in his first spell too, as the left-hander tried to hit one on the up but only ended up chipping it straight to the mid-off.
Taskin鈥檚 first spell figure read: 5-2-14-2. However, in the second spell, consisting of two overs, Taskin gave away 14 more runs without getting any success.
Taskin got two more wickets in his last two spells. Wanindu Hasaranga holed one out while Maheesh Theekshana was leading edged.
By that time, Taskin had to carry the extra burden of Mustafizur Rahman鈥檚 injury as he left the field before starting his seventh over.
Taskin celebrated his wickets with a new dance move, shaking his shoulders.
He had been the leading bowler for Bangladesh for quite a time now across the formats. Taskin started this match with 111 wickets since the start of 2023, which was the highest among the Bangladeshi bowlers.
A lot might have happened while Taskin was away, but he remained the same. Which is, of course, fantastic news for the Tigers, who are going through a tough phase.
