Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman stated that his fast bowling partner, Taskin Ahmed, is now his country’s finest bowler and plays across forms. As a result, he was unable to participate in the IPL 2022.
In addition, the Bangladesh Cricket Board opted not to provide Taskin with a No-Objection certificate for the ODI series against South Africa after IPL side Lucknow Super Giants approached the board in an attempt to sign him as Mark Wood’s replacement.
Taskin scored a five-wicket haul in the penultimate game of Bangladesh’s inaugural ODI series triumph in South Africa, and he appeared to be relishing his role as the pace spearhead.
“Our team will play games (Test series against South Africa) and Taskin is our best bowler at the moment. So apart from giving him consolation, I don’t have anything else to do (for missing the IPL),” Mustafizur told reporters before leaving South Africa to join Delhi Capitals for IPL 2022, which is slated to commence on March 26.
He is also anticipated to be a key fixture for visitors during the two-match Test series against South Africa, which is set to begin on March 31 in Durban.
The left-arm pacer stated that he is fully aware that all eyes would be on him because he is the only Bangladeshi player in the IPL after veteran campaigner Shakib was not selected by any club in the IPL 2022 mega auction.
“Earlier, Bangladeshi people were divided by two groups during the IPL, as me and Shakib bhai used to feature there but this time around all eyes will be fixed on me because Shakib is available across formats (for the national team). And that is why he is not picked in the IPL,” said Mustafizur.
Mustafizur Rahman had earlier requested BCB that he did not want to be considered for selection in the team’s red-ball assignments as he wanted to concentrate on improving his white-ball game.
Speaking on his IPL team Delhi Capitals, the pacer said that he feels that if a couple of cricketers from the team play well, the team stands a chance to make it into the finals.
“There is no small or big team in T20 cricket and if two to three cricketers play well, any team can go into the final. I always want to do well, but in order to do well, you need to find your rhythm and if I can get that, my focus will be to continue with it,” he added.
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