Jayed thanks Sylhet for nurturing pace trio

Pacer Abu Jayed Rahi talked what kept him motivated throughout the pandemic with the Tigers not being able to play in Tests while crediting Sylhet division for creating a platform for him to form a trio with pacers Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed, both of whom also hail from Sylhet.

Cricket halted in the country from mid-March due to the pandemic and there was serious concern about players' mental health and competitiveness waning during the break. Jayed said his partnership with fellow pacers Ebadat and Khaled helped him cut through the gloom of being without competitive action.

"If you talk about motivation, we practiced among ourselves. There were many times where we practiced among ourselves at the Sylhet stadium. Me, Ebadot and Khaled, we all tried to ensure that when cricket begins, we can maintain our workload. We didn't worry about when cricket will begin again but tried to stick to our process," Jayed told the media today.

The three of them first played together during the Tigers' tour of New Zealand in 2019. Since then the team management has been looking to build them up for Tests. Jayed said that there was competition and camaraderie between the three of them and it was fostered by Sylhet division's attitude towards pace bowling.

"We last played Test cricket during the Zimbabwe series and we have been waiting for Test cricket again. We want to start strongly.

"We have to thank Sylhet division for this since when we play first class cricket they gave us a lot of priority. There are times that all three of us playing and bowling and we are bowling a lot. I have said before that the more we bowl, the more we will learn. Previously, Ebadot and Khaled didn't like to bowl a lot of overs but now when we play first class cricket, we like to bowl a lot. There is a competition among us. The three of us being in Tests is because of the priority given to us by Sylhet division in first class cricket. This is why the three of us are here," he concluded.