UNB, Dhaka :
Bangladesh right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed, who hit his maiden 50 in the first innings of the ongoing Harare Test against Zimbabwe, has credited his success to fielding coach Ryan Cook.
Bangladesh won the toss in Harare on Thursday and batted first to post a challenging first innings total of 468.
Mahmudullah Riyad, who returned to the Test team after more than 17 months, smashed 150 — his highest in Test now. And Taskin accompanied Riyad on a 191-run ninth-wicket stand, the highest ninth-wicket stand for Bangladesh in Tests and the second-highest in the history of the game.
Taskin said it was a great feeling to partner with Mahmudullah when the team needed him the most and lauded Ryan for nurturing the batting talent of tailenders.
“I wanted to do something for the team,” Taskin said in a video message. “Riyad was on the wicket. So as a tailender, I should have supported him well. I’m glad that I did it. My main goal was to save my stumps. Riyad kept telling me this. I also tried to play big shots when I got some deliveries at the right places.”
“If you look at the other teams, they have some reliable batsmen at the lower order. I always try to become a reliable batsman like them so that I can support recognised batsmen,” Taskin said.
Bangladesh lost two wickets within eight runs in Harare Test. Despite that, Mominul Haque, 70, Liton Das, 95, and Mahmudullah and Taskin did well to post a big total on the board.
“The wicket was very good to bat on, unlike the first session. Riyad kept telling me that the wicket would get better by the time going. When I came to bat we needed more runs on the board to offer a challenge to the hosts. So I tried to stay stuck on the wicket and score some runs,” he added.
Taskin also said that he had no knowledge about the world record of scoring most runs in ninth-wicket stand in Tests, which needed only five runs. And he praised Bangladesh’s fielding coach Ryan for inspiring him to bat more.
“Before coming to Zimbabwe, Ryan told me to buy batting spikes so that I can use them in this tour. I did what he has said to me, and it worked. I used those spikes while batting in this Test. I would like to thank him to push me relentlessly to bat more in the nests,” he added.
