Follow UsWith the ODI World Cup looming large around the corner, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have denied their star pacer, Taskin Ahmed, from playing in England. The right-arm pacer has supposed to play the County season for Yorkshire before being denied by the board for the longer version of the sport.
"Yes, I got an offer from County Yorkshire. Actually, they wanted me for a long season and I had spoken with the coach (Chandika Hathurusingha), and the board after considering everything, they decided not to release me for the longer-version cricket," Taskin told reporters on Wednesday (June 7).
While insisting that he didn’t have a word with the cricket board, the pacer reckoned that there will be ‘opportunities’ for him in the future.
"I didn't talk with the cricket board or the team in this regard later and it is okay. If I am fit and can play well, there will be opportunities in future,” he added.
However, the pacer opined that he ‘liked’ the fact that the cricket board cares about his fitness ahead of the World Cup, and put it down as a great honour for him.
"I like it because the cricket board cares about me so much. I'm lucky as a player as they are trying to keep me safe before the World Cup. As a player it is a great honor for me. Please pray for me so that I can remain fit and play all the matches for the national team while also praying so that I can play in those leagues in my spare time," he said.
With Bangladesh not set to play any clash, it was the right opportunity for Taskin to play in England but the pacer wasn’t too disheartened, stating that he will get more opportunities in the future.
"If I can't go when there is free time, that hurts and hopefully in future I will get more opportunities. But sometimes, it feels bad (not to play in those leagues) because I want to play in those leagues for some personal achievements," Taskin said.
"Who doesn't want to play in those leagues? But at the same time you have to understand that I can't ignore my national commitment and it's difficult because I play in all three formats.