England pacer Mark Wood lauded the Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed greatly thanks to his gleaming bowling spells in the opening two games of the three one day internationals against them at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium that took place on March 1 and 3 respectively.
Although the 27-year-old leaked 66 runs from 10 overs in the second ODI against the world champions scalping three wickets in a batting friendly surface of the SBNCS, however he went exceptionally economical 1-29 in nine overs in the series opener.
Alongside the sublime bowling shows from the Tiger spinner trio Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz the speed-star also stepped up with effective deliveries in his respective spells that gave the home side a belief to defend their narrow 209 in the first game although they failed.
‘[Taskin] Mighty impressive. He’s impressed everybody, not just me. The whole team have said how well he’s bowled. He’s bowling quickly, hitting good lengths. I think in the first game, he showed our seam-bowling group where to bowl, really, said Wood on Sunday in the pre-match press conference at the ZACS.
‘We took a lot from his performance, myself, Jofra and Woakesy, and the areas that he bowled. He put us under pressure and kept it tight as well. It wasn’t just the fact he was taking wickets, he was keeping it tight as well.’
‘He’s been mighty impressive and someone that all the batsmen have said he’s performed really well. Hopefully, he doesn’t run amok this game and take loads of wickets. He’s been very impressive.’
About the ZACS’s wickets, the 33-year-old believes that it might be harder than the SBNS that would provide considerable assistance to the pace bowlers adding that Bangladesh as an opponent is very hard to beat at their backyard.
‘We’ll have to wait and see how this wicket plays and adapt to it. The block, just walking over the square, definitely feels a bit harder. The one in Mirpur felt a little bit tacky, a bit softer. So maybe this one will be a little bit truer for the seam bowlers.’
‘Bangladesh are very hard to beat in their own conditions but we have a group that’s well-rounded: quick bowlers, seam bowlers, swing bowlers. And also we have deadly spinners as well. They’ve bowled really, really well.’
