Veteran Bangladesh cricket team fast bowler Taskin Ahmed missed the T20 World Cup 2024 match against India due to ‘oversleeping’, a report claimed. The report stated that the team management could not contact Taskin as he was sleeping in his room and as a result, he missed the team bus in the build-up to the encounter. A team official was forced to stay back at the team hotel as they could not contact Taskin and he joined the squad late at the venue. The report added that Taskin has apologised to his teammates for missing the team bus and the coach decided not to play him for the India game.

It came as quite a surprise for fans as well as experts that Bangladesh did not include Taskin in their playing XI and went with Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman as their only two fast bowlers.

“It is true that he (Taskin) joined the team later after missing the team bus,” an official told Cricbuzz.

“But why he did not play only the coach can say because whether he was in the plan or not (against India) is something that can be answered by the head coach (Chandika Hathurusingha),” he said.

“If there was any issue (between coach and the player) how he played the next game against Afghanistan,” he said. “He apologized to his team mates and everyone for not being able to get up on time and that’s it and no need to make an issue out of it,” he added.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha has not made any comment on the matter.

India won the encounter against Bangladesh comprehensively by 50 runs. The Indian batters were in brilliant form as Hardik Pandya (50), Rohit Sharma (23), Virat Kohli (37), Rishabh Pant (36), and Shivam Dube (34) all scored runs to guide their side to an important victory in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Bangladesh cricket team head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that the country does not have a proper T20 tournament and launched a fiery rant on Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The T20 tournament is currently underway but in a recent interview with  ESPNCricinfo, Hathurusingha said that he sometimes turns off the TV while watching the matches and even went on to point out that some players in the competition are not of the “required class”. He added that the International Cricket Council (ICC) needs to step in and stop the ‘circus’ – a word he used to describe the BPL.

“We [Bangladesh] don’t have a proper T20 tournament. This sounds very odd. When I am watching the BPL, I sometimes turn off the TV. Some players are not even of the [required] class. I have a big issue with the current system,” Hathurusingha said.

“The ICC need to step in. There has to be some regulations. A player is playing one tournament and then he is playing another tournament. It is like a circus. Players will talk about opportunities, but that’s not right. People will lose interest. I have lost interest,” Hathurusingha added.

Hathurusingha also pointed out that Bangladesh cricketers are not getting enough practice in key sectors like batting in the Top 3 and bowling death overs. He suggested that there should be another tournament ahead of the BPL to help in the development of local cricketers.

“We need to have a tournament where our players can do things like batting in the top three. Bangladesh bowlers bowling in the death. Where will we learn these things otherwise? We have only one tournament,” said Hathurusingha.

“My suggestion is that we have another tournament before the BPL. The franchises do what they want. Some of the best players are not playing. Then how do you expect the Bangladesh team to be up with the other teams? I am fighting a steep battle,” Hathurusingha added.