Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza believes Taskin Ahmed should be rewarded for being available for National duty instead of accepting an IPL contract.
Taskin was approached by the IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to play as a replacement for England Mark Wood in the ongoing edition. However, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) did not issue a no-objection letter for Taskin. As a result, the pacer declined the offer and decided to stay with the Tiger camp.
"Of course, he should be rewarded. If you look at Anderson and Broad, the ECB always rewards them. Since they are serving the country without playing IPL, they should be rewarded with minimum rewards,” Mashrafe said at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.
Mashrafe also praised Shakib al Hasan for staying with the team despite his family members being sick in the country.
“4-5 family members of Shakib were sick. We must respect Shakib's sacrifice. He could have left if he wanted. But he was there for the team. It's unbelievable, because not one or two people, everyone was sick,” Mashrafe said.
"The biggest thing is that he wanted to win the series. It can be said to be a bit selfish from my point of view. Because at the end of the day everyone in his family was sick. Though, it was Shakib's decision. He has managed to handle both aspects very well, it’s hats off to Shakib,” he added.