Bangladesh's pacer Taskin Ahmed has been denied the No-Objection Certificate to participate in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) official said on Monday (March 21). Currently, Bangladesh side is touring South Africa for the three-match ODI and two-match Test series.
Reportedly, the 26-year-old was approached by IPL's newly included franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) which will be led by KL Rahul. BCB was contacted by LSG in order to sign Taskin for the upcoming IPL as Mark Wood, who suffered an elbow injury, had to pull out of the tournament.
''Since we have two important series like the ongoing home tour of South Africa and the home series against India, we feel it won't be right for him to take part in the IPL,'' BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus told reporters.
''We have spoken with Taskin and he has understood the whole situation. He informed the franchise that he is not playing the IPL and will be available for the South Africa tour and later will return back home.
Taskin, who has so far scalped 23 wickets in a total of 33 T20Is, is currently playing the three-match ODI series against South Africa.
LSG have shown interest in the 26-year-old Bangladeshi pacer, given his ability to move the new ball which makes him a significant asset. Not just this, team's mentor and former India star southpaw Gautam Gambhir also wanted to add Taskin to the squad.
As per Bangladesh website, Kaler Kanth, Gautam Gambhir called in Dhaka on Sunday evening (March 20) and made the proposal. “I want Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed in the team and that is for the whole season. If he agrees to the offer, Taskin will have to leave for India before the next two Tests against South Africa,” the former Indian opener was quoted as saying.
"If I get the chance, I will definitely play. But it depends on the board. I will respect their decision regarding this," Taskin had said.
Lucknow Super Giants' full squad for IPL 2022: KL Rahul, Avesh Khan, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood, Quinton de Kock, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Ravi Bishnoi, Dushmantha Chameera, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav.
