Bangalore: Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza on Saturday stood firmly behind pacer Taskin Ahmed, who has been suspended for suspect action, stating that they will follow all the due procedures to get his ban revoked.
"There is a process, and we will follow that. Whatever we have to say, we will talk to Bangladesh Cricket Board. BCB will decide what to do and whether talk to the ICC. But we still believe there's nothing wrong with Taskin's action, and that Taskin can bowl," Mashrafe made his stand clear at a media conference ahead of Bangladesh's World T20 clash against Australia on Monday.
The BCB, on its part, has appealed to the ICC to revoke the ban on Taskin. According to a report in a cricket-specific website, BCB president Nazmul Hassan has communicated with ICC chairman Shashank Manohar and CEO Dave Richardson, intimating them that the Board was not convinced about independent assessment of Taskin's bowling action.
"We are not convinced about Taskin as of now. We don't have any reason to be satisfied with the report," Nazmul was quoted as saying by the website. "And that's disappointing, so we have appealed to the ICC. We have a few grounds and we have said these things according to logic.
"Only the ICC can withdraw its decision, which is why I am talking to it directly. It won't be right to disclose what we presented as our logic. I can tell you that we have done everything possible."
Hassan 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.
"The promptness with which we have taken the action is quite different to the way we responded to the others," Hassan said. "I read the ICC's independent assessment report today morning and instantly called Richardson and chairman Shashank Manohar, who said they will respond to us after talking to their legal team.
"We are trying to do something outside the normal procedure where the player requests a reassessment, which we feel is a complex process. I don't think we can do anything more that what we have done. I believe that the ICC will observe our points and give a logical reply." Mashrafe advocating for revocation of Taskin's suspension made it clear that Bangladesh will not be contesting for left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny. "Losing two key players is a big blow, but we have to follow the rules and go through the process."
Mashrafe further said the team would miss everything about Taskin and Aarafat because they have done well. "We will miss everything about them. These two bowlers have done very well for us.
"Taskin - in the last eight matches - has been outstanding," he said.
(Agencies)
