Taskin Ahmed, Bangladesh’s vice-captain, admitted he missed the team bus for their Super Eight game against India in the T20 World Cup 2024. However, he clarified that this was not why he didn’t play. Taskin said he was left out due to team combination reasons.
“I was a little late, but I got to the ground before the toss,” Taskin told Dhaka-based newspaper Ajker Patrika. “I arrived about 30-40 minutes before the toss. I missed the team bus, which left the hotel at 8:35 am. I left for the ground at 8:43 am and almost reached the ground at the same time as the bus. It’s not as if they didn’t pick me because I was late. I wasn’t going to play anyway.”
Bangladesh had replaced Taskin with Jaker Ali for the game, with Mahedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan opening the bowling. Tamim Iqbal, speaking on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut, was “very surprised” by the decision to leave Taskin out. Taskin returned to the team for their next game against Afghanistan on June 24.
Taskin was not fined for missing the bus. Shakib said on Tuesday that the matter was resolved after Taskin apologized, though he admitted it made it “difficult” to select him for the India game.
“The bus leaves at a certain time. It’s the rule that the team bus doesn’t wait for anyone,” Shakib told reporters. “If someone misses the bus, they can take the manager’s car or a taxi.
“West Indies is a difficult place for transport. He arrived 5-10 minutes before the toss, so it was hard for the team management to select him. It was also a tough situation for the player. Taskin apologized, and everyone accepted it. It was an unintentional mistake. It ended there.”
The incident was also mentioned when BCB president Nazmul Hassan addressed a press conference after a board meeting on Tuesday. “When I saw that Taskin wasn’t in the XI, I called [team manager] Rabeed Imam, who told me that Taskin missed the team bus,” Hassan said. “But he is now at the field, he arrived a bit late”.
