Hyderabad: Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat has said that he loves to watch IPL and Kolkata Knight Riders is his favourite team, and he wants to play for the franchise.
The 25-year-old pace bowler also talked about his career, comeback, playing under the captaincy of Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal.
Watch Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed's exclusive interview with ETV Bharat. Taskin, who so far played 5 Tests, 32 ODIs and 19 T20Is, made his ODI debut against India in 2014 with a bang, taking a fifer. It was his dream debut, although Bangladesh lost that match as per D/L method.
Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed Talking about his fantastic debut in international cricket, Taskin said, "It was a great feeling. Though we lost that match, it was still a big thing, it was very special to take five wickets in the first match. It would have better had we had won the match."
After Mashrafe gave up the captaincy, Tamim was appointed new captain. Asked about his experience of playing under Mashrafe, who is regarded as Bangladesh's best captain, Taskin said, "Mash bhai (Mashrafe) was an amazing captain for us, he had raised the standard of our team quite high. We will continue to perform in a similar fashion as we got a good leader in Tamimbhai now. He is a great player, he is also a very good human being. He supports us a lot, especially the young players."
Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza. "All the players on our team are working very hard. We are very cautious about our fitness. We are also working on our skills. Yes, we will miss the captaincy of Mashrafe bhai,but the captaincy of Tamim Bhai is also very good. I have played a few domestic seasons with Tamim Bhaiand he has vast experience of playing in international cricket. He has been associated with the Bangladesh cricket team for the last 12-13 years. So, I am confident we will surely move forward in the future because we are a hardworking lot," Taskin added.
RCB captain Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Meanwhile, as the IPL 2020 is currently going on in the UAE, Taskin is not missing a single match. "I usually support KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders), but this season I am supporting RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) as I am a huge admirer of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. All in all, I watch IPL regularly. I think Delhi, RCB, Punjab and Mumbai can make it to the playoffs this year," Taskin said.
Asked about the team for which he wants to play in IPL, he said KKR would be his first choice.
Regarding his comeback, Taskin said, "I have missed a lot of series due to my injury. Whenever Bangladesh play, I pray that only our team wins."
