Tigers got to chalk out some new plans for their ICC World Twenty20 campaign as they lost two of their most consistent performers Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed for the remainder of the tournament. The International Cricket Council on Saturday announced that independent assessments have found the bowling actions of Sunny and Taskin to be illegal and, as such, both the bowlers have been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect.
With less than 48-hour left before facing the Australian in the Chinnaswamy stadium at Bangalore, the suspension of Arafat and Taskin couldn’t have hurt them any harder.
The duo had been performing regularly for Tigers in the shorter format and had been regarded as the two most important repertoires of skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza’s arsenal.
Taskin remained a major threat to all the oppositions through his nippy pace and bounce coupled with his immaculate line and length while Sunny troubled the batsmen with his uncanny ability of stopping the free flow of runs.
Sunny had been prepared for the ICC World Twenty20 for quite some time and when Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe was trying to experiment with the T-20 squad during the home series against Zimbabwe, Sunny was left out being a sure shot for the extravaganza tournament.
Taskin had a lay off after being injured during his stint with the Bangladesh A team last year and returned to the side with the Zimbabwe series.
With each passing days, the pace bowler seemed to be growing confidence and was one of the leading contributors to take the team to the Asia Cup final.
Considering their effect in the team it won’t be unwise to suggest their absence will create a hole in the Tigers line-up which may not be possible to fill on immediate basis.
‘Naturally it was a big blow for us,’ team manager Khaled Mahmud told reporters at his hotel on his immediate reaction.
However, Tigers looked to get over the grief as quickly as possible and pull up their socks with their available options.
‘We are a professional side,’ said Mahmud.
‘We are ready to face the Australians as this is part of cricket,’ he said.
‘There were times when we did not have Arafat or Taskin in our team.
‘While it is not the first time we are facing such a situation.’
Earlier, Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak was the first Bangladeshi bowler to be suspended in November 2008 and got cleared in March 2009.
Off-spinner Sohag Gazi was suspended from bowling in October 2014 and later was cleared after a second test in February 2015.
Pacer Al-Amin Hossain also had to face similar kind of situation as he was reported for a suspect action in 2014 and was cleared after an assessment in Chennai.
However, no one was banned during a tournament of this stature from Bangladesh team putting their combination in complete disarray.
Shuvagata Hom and Saqlain Sajib will replace the duo in Tigers’ squad.
-With New Age input
