Taskin finds his match-winning magic

Returning to the Bangladesh team in 2021 after a three-year break was regarded as an accomplishment for Taskin Ahmed. Bangladeshi fast bowlers don't usually come back after being written off let alone put in a Player-of-the-Series performance to seal victory in a country where they had never won anything in bilateral cricket.

South Africa had no answer to Taskin's two-card trick, where he would attack the stumps relentlessly and then throw one outside off to get the edge. The 26-year old finished with eight wickets in three games. This included a five-for in the series decider as he followed in the footsteps of Zaheer Khan and Kyle Mills to become only the third visiting fast bowler to be named Player of an ODI series on South African soil.

And this isn't a one-off thing either. Taskin took key wickets in Mount Maunganui in January although Ebadot Hossain's six-wicket haul was the defining performance there. Taskin also bowled well at home against Afghanistan, where, for once, the curators put out green pitches to deter Rashid Khan and company. Taskin, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam bowled so well that captain Tamim Iqbal didn't change the line-up even once in their last six ODIs.

After his 3 for 36 in the first ODI, Taskin was off-colour in Johannesburg where he got hit for four sixes. But this is a very different Taskin. He doesn't let emotions get the better of him anymore. On Wednesday, Tamim gave him two overs in the first Powerplay, then switched him to the Hennops River End in the 13th over and well, the rest is history.

Taskin had Kyle Verreynne inside edging on to his stumps, before Janneman Malan was done on the outside edge. Malan used hard hands, but that was because Taskin forced him into a poor shot with a quick, short ball just outside off stump.

Later in the innings, he removed Pretorius, David Miller and KagisoRabada, all caught behind in the space of his ten balls. Miller was caught down the leg side. Unlucky, you might say, but take a closer look at the balls leading up to that wicket.It was the perfect set up. Taskin bowled nice and tight around the off stump, and then cornered Miller with a surprise short ball.

In the first match too, Taskin took two in his first spell to derail South Africa's chase of 315. He returned to remove Rassie van der Dussen when things were about to get tight.

Four years ago in South Africa, Taskin took two wickets in 61 overs. It was the beginning of the end, some said, and when he was about to board the plane this time, he remembered that he had to do things differently.

"I am happy with the series win," Taskin said. "I want to contribute in every series win. It was a huge achievement to win the series here. Before coming to South Africa, someone told me that I was out of the team for four years after my last South Africa tour.

Awarded Player of the series