“What’s there to be upset about?” Taskin said with a smile during the press conference.

Taskin’s stellar form with the ball has carried over into the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as well as he has already taken 12 wickets in four matches – highest among bowlers so far – for Durbar Rajshahi, which included a record-breaking 7-19 against Dhaka Capitals during his side’s second game in Dhaka on January 2.

Said Taskin Ahmed, the leader of Bangladesh's pace bowling pack across formats

It has been smooth sailing for the West Indies in chase of Bangladesh's 227 in the second ODI at Warner Park in St. Kitts. Brandon King hit a 52-ball 50, his seventh ODI fifty while Evin Lewis also looked determined as West Indies reached 100 without loss in 19 overs.

The fact that two pacers shared the player of the series trophy following the two-match Test series between West Indies and Bangladesh ended in a 1-1 draw shows how much pace dominated the proceedings in Antigua and Jamaica.

Chasing 334 to win the match, Bangladesh will go into Tuesday's final day still 225 runs short of victory and with just three wickets in hand.

Mustafizur Rahman pointed to the sky knowingly, a smile spread across his face. The delivery to Rahmat Shah, only his second of the first ODI against Afghanistan, got him a wicket. But it was the satisfaction in execution of his plan that brought assuredness for Bangladesh’s ‘cuttermaster’, who managed his first four-for in ODIs yesterday in over a year’s time.

Bangladesh pacer Khaled Ahmed replaced Taskin Ahmed in the 15-member squad for the second Test against South Africa, scheduled to start on October 29, at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Talking about some of the extraordinary shots that India batters seem to conjure, Taskin felt that wickets back home do not allow batters to play such shots.

Bangladesh’s all-format pacer Shoriful Islam witnessed a few ups and downs this year due to injuries. The 23-year-old pacer hurt his finger during a warm-up match before the ICC T20 World Cup. Although he had recovered and was available for selection from the second match, he ended up warming the benches for the whole tournament. After average stints in LPL and GT20 Canada following the World Cup, Shoriful was brilliant in the opening Test against Pakistan but missed the second one due to a groin injury. The left-arm pacer wasn’t picked for the India Tests to heal up completely for the three-match T20I series against the same team. Before leaving for India with the rest of the T20 squad, Shoriful spoke with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan about his topsy-turvy year. Here are the excerpts:

The Tigers started the second day with authority, bundling India out for 376, but the batting did not complement.

Nahid Rana stunned the cricketing world with his raw pace during Bangladesh’s historic 2-0 Test series triumph over hosts Pakistan, clocking over 150 kmph while also claiming his career-best figures in the second Test. Even though Bangladesh cricket has been reaping the benefits of forming a potent pace group across formats in recent years, the factors behind the emergence of talented quicks have not been focused on a large scale. The Test series triumph against Pakistan in Rawalpindi would not have materialised if pacers like Hasan Mahmud, Nahid, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed had not outshone the quicks of Pakistan -- a country historically known as the ‘land of pacers’. What comes as a hopeful sign for fans and a sweet headache for the team management is that these four aforementioned pacers are not the only ones available in the Tigers’ pace tank. Khaled Ahmed, who was also part of this Pakistan series, Ebadot Hossain, currently rehabilitating from an ACL injury that saw him out of action for more than a year, and white-ball regulars Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman are all part of the Tigers’ current pace battery. While they gel together in the national team under the guidance of foreign coaches, the story of their emergence began under local coaches to whom they turn to whenever needed. The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan reached out to Nahid, and the excerpts of his interview are provided below:

Nahid Rana stunned the cricketing world with his raw pace during Bangladesh’s historic 2-0 Test series triumph over hosts Pakistan, clocking over 150 kmph while also claiming his career-best figures in the second Test. Even though Bangladesh cricket has been reaping the benefits of forming a potent pace group across formats in recent years, the factors behind the emergence of talented quicks have not been focused on a large scale. The Test series triumph against Pakistan in Rawalpindi would not have materialised if pacers like Hasan Mahmud, Nahid, Shoriful Islam, and Taskin Ahmed had not outshone the quicks of Pakistan -- a country historically known as the ‘land of pacers’. What comes as a hopeful sign for fans and a sweet headache for the team management is that these four aforementioned pacers are not the only ones available in the Tigers’ pace tank. Khaled Ahmed, who was also part of this Pakistan series, Ebadot Hossain, currently rehabilitating from an ACL injury that saw him out of action for more than a year, and white-ball regulars Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Mustafizur Rahman are all part of the Tigers’ current pace battery. While they gel together in the national team under the guidance of foreign coaches, the story of their emergence began under local coaches to whom they turn to whenever needed. In this special issue of The Daily Star Sports, we look at one such local coach, Alamgir Kabir, and one of his disciples, Nahid, who came to the fore through the recent Pakistan series. The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan reached out to Alamgir, and the excerpts of their interviews are provided below:

It still feels surreal that Bangladesh have won their first-ever Test series against Pakistan 2-0 and that too on Pakistan soil.

South African fast bowling legend Allan Donald has been heavily credited for his role in Bangladesh’s pace revolution during his tenure as the team’s pace bowling coach from March 2022 to November 2023. The 57-year-old, who resigned after the ICC World Cup in India, is still a big supporter of the Tigers and keeps in touch with the Bangladesh pacers. On Monday, Donald spoke with The Daily Star’s Samsul Arefin Khan over the phone from Johannesburg, where he expressed immense pleasure at seeing his former pupils doing so well in Pakistan. Here are the excerpts:

Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud revealed that the Tigers were looking to finish the game by the end of Day 4 of the second Test against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Stadium on Monday.

Bangladesh’s pace trio of Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana and Taskin Ahmed ran roughshod over Pakistan and etched their names in the annals of the country’s cricket by taking all 10 wickets in Pakistan’s second innings in the second Test in Rawalpindi today.

Bangladesh speedster Taskin Ahmed made an instant impact on his return to Test cricket after 14 months as he came up with a sensational bowling performance on the second day of the second Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi yesterday.

Bangladesh bowlers, led by off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz, had a field day on Day 2 of the second Test against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Stadium yesterday as their efforts bundled out the hosts for 274.

“He wants to play Tests, and we will talk to the medical team,” a member of the selection panel told The Daily Star.