'We played for Taskin, Sunny'

Tigers skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza made no secret about how distraught the team were for bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny.

Appearing at the press briefing yesterday after the Tigers' washed out game against Ireland,  Mashrafe said that they have decided to play for the two bowlers, who were reported for suspect actions during Bangladesh's opening ICC World T20 qualifier against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

“We have decided to play for them. We can't do anything about reports against them. But by doing that we are expressing our solidarity,” said Mashrafe when asked how the team was feeling after the ICC action.

“Sunny was not in the team today. It was because he did not fit into our game plan on the day. But Taskin was with us and he was even more committed to what he has been doing for the team,” said the inspirational Bangladesh captain, adding that it was unfortunate that he could not bowl in the rain-ruled match.

He said that Taskin will leave for Chennai on March 14 and Sunny today.

When asked how he felt when he lost the toss, which was vital in a shortened game, he said that he was a bit worried because in a reduced game it's always dicey when you are batting first.

But he was very happy the way Tamim and Soumya handled the situation. When asked about the injury status of the team, he said that it was getting better.

“Mustafizur [Rahman] is recovering very well from his side strain. It takes two to three weeks to recover from this kind of injury. We don't want to risk further injury by playing. Shakib has recovered from his groin injury”, said Mashrafe.

When asked about his swelled right thumb, which he suffered while trying to stop a hard-hit drive in the game against the Netherlands, he said that it was fine.