Taskin Ahmed rocking up to the crease may give a batter the feeling that he hasn't warmed up yet. If he takes his eye off the ball though, he could be drawn into a poke outside off-stump, or miss the inswinger through the bat and pad. The 2026 version of Taskin no longer warms up while bowling his first over; he is watching the batter closely, looking to test both edges.
The new or semi-new ball is his favourite weapon. With early movement and swing. Taskin's early breakthrough has become a frequent occurrence for his Bangladesh captains, regardless of the color of the ball.
Even after returning to the Test team after nearly 18 months against Pakistan, Taskin remains a force with the red ball. He offered stability in the Dhaka Test, before engineering a collapse on the third morning. He also took an early wicket in Pakistan's fourth innings in Dhaka.
Taskin was on target on the second morning in Sylhet, too. He dismissed Pakistan's openers Abdullah Fazal and Azan Awais quickly, giving Bangladesh the boost they needed from the bowlers after making only 278 in the first innings.
Taskin usually plans his overs, with a mix of inswing and outswing deliveries. He needed three to dismiss Fazal. The young left-hander left the first ball, which went close to the off bail. He inside edged the second. The third ball was another away-going delivery; Fazal followed it and edged to the wicketkeeper.
Shoriful Islam and Taskin teamed up to set up Awais, who had plenty of plays and misses. Taskin attacked his off stump from around the wicket. The left-hander couldn't make up his mind about what to do and inside edged on to his pads, the ball popping to Mominul Haque at short midwicket.
Taskin, however, seemed a little bothered this morning. Before his first over, the physio Bayejidul Islam ran onto the field to offer him some assistance. Bayejidul and couple of other support staff members were then parked next to Taskin at the fine-leg boundary.
It looked like they had set up a small camp and offered Taskin cold towels while the strength and conditioning coach did some more stretching on his leg. By this time, bowling coach Shaun Tait had walked over too.
They were perhaps just being extra careful. Taskin is returning to long-form cricket after a sizeable gap, and he doesn't play both Tests in a series that often.
Nahid Rana, who took three wickets in the Pakistan first innings, later said that this was the period in which Bangladesh stepped up the pressure on the visitors. "Taskin bhai and Shoriful bhai were both very disciplined at the start. They formed a great partnership, and were complementing each other. Such partnership bowling usually puts a lot of pressure on the batting side. They are often forced into a false shot as they are looking for runs. Batters have too many things in their mind. Taskin bhai and Shoriful bhai took advantage of that mindset, which brought us two early wickets.
"We enjoy a great relationship," Rana said of his bond with Taskin. "I have been following him since my childhood, and now I get him as my elder brother. He also treats me as a younger brother. He is always looking after me. He has played at this level at my age, so he knows what I can face."
Taskin is regarded as the leader of this impressive bowling attack, so to keep that role he has to constantly be among the wickets. The Dhaka Test was his return to Tests after a long break and he was the one who brought Bangladesh back when Pakistan were cruising at 210 for 1 on the third day. He formed a partnership with Mehidy Hasan Miraz to spark a collapse, which got Bangladesh into a strong position. In the fourth innings, he removed Imam-ul-Haq in the first over, and later bowled tightly to give Nahid Rana the space to bowl his heart out at the other end. His second coming as a fast bowler has inspired a whole line-up of fast bowlers.
There is still much to do for Taskin in 2026. It starts with closing out the Sylhet Test and the series win. Bangladesh will expect him to deliver with the new ball, and keep supporting the young guns at the other end. Tours later this year to Australia and South Africa, a rarity for a Bangladesh, will also motivate him. The young tearaway of 2014 is now a mature fast bowler who can offer different things to his captains across formats.