During the T20 World Cup, Bangladesh fast bowler and vice-captain Taskin Ahmed was left out of the side to face India in the Super Eights stage of the tournament. It has now emerged that he missed the team bus ahead of the game.

On June 22, Bangladesh were set to face India in their second match of the Super Eights. They were coming off the back of a 28-run (DLS) loss to Australia, and were aware of how a defeat against India might spell the end of their campaign.

When the teams were announced at the toss in Antigua, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto revealed that they had made one change; Taskin Ahmed had been replaced by Jaker Ali. The move raised eyebrows as Taskin was not only the vice-captain of the team but had been part of a Bangladesh bowling attack that had performed well in the tournament thus far. The logical explanation at the time was that they may have wanted an extra batter in Jaker Ali, to attempt to match India's strength with the bat.

 

It was still a strange call, given that Bangladesh had sent Taskin to attend the pre-match press conference the previous day, suggesting that there were no advance plans to drop him. It was therefore possible that he had been injured in the intervening period, but no mention was made of that.

According to a Cricbuzz report, Taskin had missed the team bus on the morning of the game as he overslept in his hotel room. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) reportedly decided to leave an official at the team hotel as the team departed for the stadium in order to take care of the situation after Taskin did not answer his phone despite repeated attempts. He eventually arrived to the ground late, and apologised to his teammates for missing the bus. 

Read more: Jay Shah says 'seniors will be there' for Champions Trophy and WTC final

The BCB officials remain adamant that this did not directly affect Taskin's exclusion for the match against India, claiming that was something only head coach Chandika Hathurusingha could answer. There does not seem to have been any lasting damage to the relationship between player and coach, as Taskin was back in the team for Bangladesh's next match, against Afghanistan. 

Follow Wisden for all T20 World Cup updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.