|| CF DESK ||

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed last played a Test match in June of last year against Afghanistan. Since then, injuries and his decision to step away from longer formats had kept him out of red-ball cricket.

However, after a long hiatus, Taskin returned in fine form against Pakistan, taking 3 wickets. The right-arm pacer was in high spirits after his successful comeback.

Taskin had expressed his desire to play in the Pakistan tour about a month ago, following his recovery from a back injury. However, his condition wasn't stable enough for the first Test, so he didn’t play.

Prepared and ready, Taskin took the field in the second Test and struck gold in the very first over, claiming a wicket in what seemed like a dream start. He bowled superbly throughout the innings, finishing with figures of 3 for 57, playing a crucial role in restricting Pakistan to 274 runs in their first innings.

Speaking at the post-day press conference, the 29-year-old pacer expressed his joy at returning to Test cricket and his satisfaction with the team's position.

"Coming back to red-ball cricket after almost a year and a half felt great. I enjoyed it, though it was a bit of a struggle. I think things will get better in the next innings. I had to adjust a bit. We managed to restrict them to a low score, and I’m very optimistic about a good result," he said.

Bangladesh, having won the toss and elected to bowl, found early success thanks to Taskin. He bowled five outswingers to Abdullah Shafique, before trapping him with a ball that nipped back in, leaving him bowled. Taskin later claimed the wickets of Saud Shakeel and Agha Salman, but he considers Shafique's wicket to be the most special.

"That wicket was really satisfying. I set him up with five outswingers, then planned to bring the sixth one in. That’s why getting that wicket made me very happy. Sometimes you might not get wickets doing this, but it's important to stick to the process," Taskin explained.