Bangladesh Cricket board president Nazmul Hasan on Sunday said that he had appealed to the ICC to reconsider the ban of Taskin Ahmed so that the young fast bowler can return to the international arena soon. Nazmul personally communicated with the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and its chief executive Dave Richardson to express his discontent over the issue and asked them to review the ICC decision that banned Taskin from bowling in international matches.
Speaking from his residence in Dhaka, Nazmul said the BCB was trying to circumvent the normal procedure of appealing in a bid to quickly overturn the decision made on Taskin.
The ICC had said on Saturday that ‘not all of Taskin’s deliveries were legal’. While Nazmul did not reveal what the BCB’s main argument was, he said they were not convinced with the ICC’s independent assessment report on Taskin’s bowling action.
‘I discussed the matter with ICC chairman and CEO,’ said Nazmul adding ‘as far as I know they have already sat with a legal team about our matter.’
‘We requested them to give us an answer in quick time. They told me they will let me know as soon as they finish their discussions.’
Nazmul said that they are for now avoiding the complex legal procedure as it requires a lot of time and he believes the ICC will be convinced with the arguments they submitted so the bowler can return soon.
‘We are trying to do something outside the normal procedure where the player is required to ask for a reassessment, which we feel is a complex process. I don’t think we can do anything more than what we have done. I believe the ICC will take our arguments into cognizance and respond to it with logic’.
‘We are not convinced about Taskin’s action as of now. We don’t have any reason to be satisfied with the report. And that’s disappointing, so we have appealed to the ICC.’
‘We have a few grounds and we have logically laid down our case. Only the ICC can withdraw the decision, which is why I am talking to the ICC directly.’
‘It won’t be right to disclose what we presented as our argument. I can tell you that we have done everything possible.’
The BCB boss said they will not rule out the possibility of seeking legal recourse but right now he was focusing on getting Taskin back at the quickest possible time.
‘If we take the legal route, then we can forget about Taskin playing in the World T20. I don’t think it will be solved any time in the future.’
‘It’s very difficult, but I have not left hope as yet. I feel that there is a slight possibility for Taskin to join us as soon as possible.’
Bangladesh cricket fans have reacted strongly on the social media with many claiming that it is a plot of a certain country against Bangladesh and the ICC had acted as their executioner, but Nazmul brushed aside any conspiracy theories.
‘ICC should be happy with our progress. No country had anything to do with it as the test could just as well been held in Australia, South Africa or in England.’
‘We did it in Chennai because it was close by. This has nothing to do with any country. I think there must be a communication gap somewhere.’
Nazmul further said he believes that despite the jolt, the Tigers have enough in their repertoire to win their matches to follow.
‘They [Tigers] must focus only on the game. Taskin did not play for a long time due to injury. Mustafiz was absent as well. But we were not hung out to dry.’
‘We have players. We have courage, we will fight. The boys must not think of anything beyond the game. We shall do the rest,’ said the BCB boss.
-With New Age input
