Bangladesh had dropped vice-captain Taskin Ahmed from the crucial Super Eights clash against India in Antigua at the recently-concluded T20 World Cup 2024 reportedly because he overslept and missed the team bus. Bangladesh had replaced Taskin Ahmed with Jaker Ali for the game and had Mahedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan open the bowling. However, the pacer admits reaching the team bus late but has refuted this claim that he was dropped for it. He stated that his exclusion was due to team combination reasons. 


The 29-year-old has addressed these rumours in a recent statement. He admitted that he did miss the bus but arrived at the ground well before the toss. He further revealed that he was not going to play the game anyway as he didn't fit into the team combination.


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Was Late But Reached Before Toss: Taskin Ahmed


Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed has clarified that missing the team bus was not the actual reason for his omission from the T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 game against India. The right-arm seamer was benched to make way for Jaker Ali in the crucial match. Following his exclusion, there were widespread rumors suggesting that Taskin was dropped because he missed the team bus before the game.


"I was a little late, but I reached at the ground before the toss. I arrived at the ground around 30-40 minutes before the toss. I missed the team bus. The bus left the hotel at 8.35am. I left for the ground at 8.43am. I almost reached the ground with the bus. It is not as if they didn't pick me because I arrived late. I wasn't going to play anyway," ESPNcricinfo quoted Taskin Ahmed as saying to a Dhaka-based newspaper Ajker Patrika.


Dropping Taskin seemed like a surprising decision to many as he had been performing well in the tournament, picking up seven wickets from five matches. The decision also backfired for Bangladesh, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli attacking Shakib al Hasan with the new ball.


“Difficult For Team Management To Select Him”: Shakib Al Hasan


Bangladesh went on to lose the game by 50 runs, making it hard for them to qualify for the semifinals stage. Shakib also commented on the incident, mentioning that Taskin apologised to the team and the matter was resolved. However, he noted that Taskin’s late arrival made his selection difficult.


"The bus usually leaves at a certain time. It is the rule that the team bus doesn't wait for anyone. If by chance someone misses the bus, they can arrive in the managers' car or a taxi. West Indies is a difficult place for transport. He arrived 5-10 minutes before the toss, so naturally it was difficult for the team management to select him. It was also a difficult situation for the player. Taskin apologised to the team, and everyone took it very normally. It was an unintentional mistake. It ended there," said Shakib as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.