Vanquished's last rites

If today's ICC World Twenty20 dead rubber between Bangladesh and Australia bears any significance to any player then it will be for promising pacer Taskin Ahmed, who was drafted into the side in place of injured Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
Mashrafe, who had nightmare bowling figures against Pakistan, has been ruled out of the last game as he suffered a knee injury in Sunday's game against Pakistan. His knee, which had previously been operated on, swelled up and an MRI will be done after a few days rest.
However, whether Taskin's inclusion against an Australia side expert on playing pace is the wisest choice is questionable, especially when a left-arm spinner like Arafat Sunny was also available.  
“Mashrafe's frequent injury is really a cause for concern and we have to chalk out a detailed plan for his future involvement. The team management wanted Taskin as his replacement and he is most likely to play,” said chief selector Faruque Ahmed yesterday.
The lanky right-arm paceman, who has also undergone rehabilitation for 11 months to nurse his injured knee tendon back to health, was also ready to make his international debut. It is not an ideal situation for him as the team is low on confidence following their poor showing in the tournament, but still the young man was hoping for a good game.
“I'm excited and if I get the chance to make an international debut against a team like Australia I will try to make it a memorable one. I think it will be a good game because both teams will try to finish with some solace,” said Taskin.
There are not many who believe that Bangladesh can win the last match despite the fact that pre-tournament favourites Australia lost all their previous three group matches, and their batting in the last game against India was woeful.
The performance in the tournament once again established that Bangladesh are miles away from establishing themselves in the newest format of the game and Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim also admitted that: “It is true that we are not a strong T20 outfit on paper.”
But if the Tigers pull off a surprise in the last game, it will at least give the home fans something to cheer about. “Hopefully, one more game to go, and if we can win the last game that will give us something to cheer. We have tried almost everything; maybe there is nothing left to try. We will try to play the right combination in the last game, keeping in mind that it is against Australia.”
Mushfiqur rightly pointed out that they have played the worst in the first six overs, which virtually knocked them out of the game. And the poor batting of Tamim Iqbal was one of the main reasons behind the failure.
As Mushfiqur said, they have one game left so they will try to play freely. With all other avenues exhausted, can this free licence change their luck?