Taskin turns down County offer to prepare for CWC
Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed turned down a proposal from county cricket for taking preparations for the upcoming ODI World Cup this year, reports UNB.
County Club Yorkshire wanted to get Taskin in their squad for red-ball cricket to be held just ahead of the ODI Cricket World Cup.
The offer came from Yorkshire's head coach Ottis Gibson, who is also the former fast bowling coach of Bangladesh. Taskin discussed the matter with officials of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
After that, Taskin turned down the proposal as the coach, the player and the board felt that it won't be ideal to play the red-ball cricket at that moment right ahead of the 50-over world cup.
"Yorkshire wanted to rope him in but we turned down the offer because we don't want Taskin to be tired, playing four-day cricket ahead of the 50-over world cup considering that he is the vital cog in Bangladesh's fast bowling unit," BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Younus told the newspersons on Tuesday.
"He has just come from the injury. He is also in our Test squad and we have detailed plan regarding him. We need to keep him fit ahead of the World Cup," he added.
Younus also said the board didn't force Taskin to reject the offer. "After getting the proposal, Taskin informed us about it. We didn't force him of not playing county cricket. We just told him about the merits and demerits of playing county cricket at this moment. Taskin also seemed to be reluctant to play this year. So the result was 'no'. That's it."
Taskin fell into injury lastly during the home series against Ireland. He was ruled out of the one-off Test and away ODI series against the Irish.
After a lengthy rehab, he had recently returned to the side when he found place in the solitary Test against Afghanistan. At this moment, he was bowling with full rhythm and desperate to get back to cricket.
"It's worst feeling to be away from the cricket due to injury. I was dropped from the 2019 World Cup team due to the injury and it was the worst phase of my life. My target is to play the next World Cup so I have to be fit and healthy," Taskin had said recently, showing his determination to play the World Cup.