Courtney Walsh has has described Taskin Ahmed as ‘young and full of energy’ and ‘explosive’ © Getty Images
Courtney Walsh, Bangladesh’s bowling coach, was speaking to the media from the edge of the Gymkhana ground’s net facility, quite close to the boundary edge of the ground. As he was speaking, Sabbir Rahman dropped a catch running from cover to mid-on. He dived forward and got his hands to the ball but it spilled out. This was Bangladesh’s second drop of the day, continuing a worrisome theme from the tour of New Zealand where they dropped as many as 20 chances.
Walsh didn’t see the catch going down because he was sitting facing away from the ground. But he said Bangladesh’s young pace bowlers were taking the dropped catches in their stride.
“Once you are in the game, catches are going to be dropped,” Walsh said “I told them not to worry about it. ‘Think about the next one’. Nobody drops catches purposely. It is part of cricket. Spectacular catches are going to be taken at some point of time as well. So you have to take the rough with the smooth. They have accepted, taken it on the chin and moved on. They are not frustrated with it. The catch go down, you gotta go again.”
It is one of the aspects of the young Bangladesh pace attack that has impressed Walsh since late December. The young group of Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Subashis Roy bowled their hearts out in New Zealand despite their lack of know-how at the game’s highest level. Rabbi’s persistence with the bat in Christchurch also gave Walsh a glimpse of his mindset.
“I was impressed in New Zealand,” he said. “They are a work in progress. [India] is another challenge. The experience that they gained there [in New Zealand] will help them here. They’ve been working pretty hard here as well.
“We are trying to strike the right balance and get them match-ready. The one problem is inexperience. They haven’t played a lot of Tests between them. The board are trying to give them more exposure. It is a step in the right direction. It will be better for the team to play more outside home.”
Walsh said that even bowlers like Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman, who were not brought to India, have been moving forward. Rubel and Mustafizur are currently playing first-class cricket back home, and have found some success already. Both have featured only irregularly in the domestic scene but more competition for spots means they have to take wickets back home.
Walsh said he was seeing good signs in the group that has come to India.
“They are very impressive. Even those not here – Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman – they were prepared to put in the work in New Zealand. They have gone back to the BCL to get match confidence. Guys who are here are prepared to put in all the work, all the time.
“Even the youngster who has come just now, he [Abu Jayed] is prepared to work as well. These are the good signs.”
Taskin was one of two fast bowlers rested from the practice game against India A, but has done enough in his debut series in New Zealand to warrant an automatic place in the Test XI. Given his performance in the limited-overs format for Bangladesh, he is also the natural leader of this Test attack.
“He is very exciting,” Walsh said. “He has pace. He is young and full of energy. He is explosive. On his day, he could be a captain’s dream. These games will give him more experience.
“I think once he gets the experience and confidence, with the workload he is putting in, he has the potential to reach the top. He is prepared to work hard. I am happy with the way he is working. He puts in everything for the team in the field.”
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo