|| CF Correspondent ||

In the opening day of the second two-day intra-squad match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday, Bangladesh Test discards proves their worth in the longer formats.

Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed made sure that continues to deliver like he did in the opening game while batsman Mahmudullah and opener Imrul Kayes proved a point too.

While the duo made fifties respectively to help Ottis Gibson side put up 248-8 in 72 overs at the end of the day, Taskin grabbed three wickets to restrict the opponent under a sizeable total.

The two-day match is considered to be the first step towards resumption of competitive cricket in Bangladesh and if anyone had made the most out of it will certainly be Taskin as he continued to show that he is returning back to his former self by performing in back to back matches.

In the opening game Taskin picked four wickets to show that he is returning back to form but every eyes were fixed on to see how he performs in the second game considering his injury history.

Taskin proved that he is getting stronger with passing days as he had got considerable amount of bounce despite the wicket had lot of slowness and was not ideal for any pacer.

Taskin removed both the openers Nazmul Hossain and Yasir Rabbi inside the first hour but Mahmudullah and Imrul survived the storm and itched a partnership worth 80 runs but was more praiseworthy is that they stuck to the basics without trying to showcase their potential despite they were given an impression by the team management to be old horse.

The emergence of Shadman Islam, Saif Hasan and Nazmul Hossain had literally blocked all the doors for Imrul in the longer format and furthermore there was no cricket where the left-handed opener could prove his point.

Though the performance in the intra-squad match will hardly be counted when national selectors sit to form their squad for the upcoming home series against West Indies in January but the experienced campaigner at least showed that he is yet to be ruled out to make a comeback, courtesy his 59 from 93 balls before sparking row after getting out against Taskin.

Taskin caught and bowled Imrul after the ball hit the shoulder of the bat and Imrul did not moved away as he felt that it touched the ground earlier and reacted sharply when umpires given him out.

For Mahmudullah it was a different battle altogether after he was asked by the team management to concentrate on white-ball cricket since the humiliating defeat in the Rawalpindi Test where they were humbled by an innings and 44 runs by Pakistan.