The World Cup final is the primary objective.

Injury and Taskin Ahmed have been close friends ever since the pacer made his international debut. Taskin, who is recovering from a side strain injury, is preparing to return even stronger. During an exclusive interview with The Daily Star's Mazhar Uddin, the 28-year-old who has been a revolution in the Tigers pace bowling unit spoke about his bowling, plans for the upcoming World Cup, and a few other topics.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

The Daily Star (DS) reports that What is the most recent update on your recovery?

TA (Taskin Ahmed): Thank God, the recovery process is going well. I've already begun bowling this week.

DS: Were you disappointed that you had to miss another couple of series due to injury despite being in good form?

TA: It definitely hurts if I miss a series, and if it's due to an injury, it hurts even more. However, this is all part of a cricketer's career, and I believe whatever happens is for the best. I try not to dwell on my disappointment for too long and instead focus on my process.

DS: You've recovered from injuries in the past. How difficult is it for a fast bowler to regain full rhythm after constantly recovering from injury?

TA: To be honest, it is difficult to get back into full swing after an injury, but it does improve once you have match fitness. However, it is difficult to wait patiently rather than becoming disappointed if things do not go well at first and focusing on the process. So, after recovering from an injury, patience is essential.

DS: What aspects do you work on with your personal mind trainer?

TA: Well, as individuals, we all have different mindsets and emotions, and the topic of work is strictly confidential with the mind trainer. Basically, it's a private matter, but yes, this is a very useful aspect of a sportsman, and it may be less common in Bangladesh than in other countries. It doesn't matter if you're having a good or bad time; it's important to have a mind trainer at various stages of our lives.

DS: How did you rate our fast bowlers' performance in the Ireland series?

TA: I believe we performed reasonably well overall in the Ireland series, but I believe we are capable of doing better. But that's fine because there will be different experiences in different conditions, and the more we play in such conditions, the more we will learn. I won't say we did poorly; we weren't great either, but it was a good learning experience for us.

DS: Aside from your bowling abilities, the team's young pacers are following in your footsteps to improve their batting abilities.

TA: Well, the bowlers' main skill is bowling, but if we can improve our batting, it will eventually help our team. In world cricket, most tail enders are now contributing, and this has been discussed among the bowling group. There is no difficulty if we work on our batting a little bit and get assistance from our batting coaches and players. So the main goal is to help if there is an early collapse and to support the set batsman at the crease. I'm trying, but I still have a lot to learn, and I believe that in today's cricket, it's important for the bowling unit to be able to bat as well.

DS: With the ODI World Cup coming up later this year, do you have a personal goal for the main event?

TA: I'm not going to talk about my World Cup plans right now, but I will when the time comes. But the main goal is to reach the World Cup final if the Almighty keeps us healthy.

DS: As one of the more experienced bowlers in the Tigers squad, what do you expect from India's pace bowling unit for the World Cup?

TA: In India, I participated in a T20 World Cup and a Test match. India has always had sporting wickets, but there are few grounds that are batting friendly, making it difficult for the pacers. At the same time, if we can execute properly as a bowling unit, we will be able to compete with any team. We're getting better, and with four to five months until the World Cup, we'll try to push our skill levels even higher, and I'm hoping to do something spectacular.