Bangladesh pace bowler Khaled Ahmed said he is adjusting to the heat after joining the Test squad in the UAE following his stint with Kent in the County Championship.
Bangladesh are preparing in the UAE ahead of their lone Test match against Afghanistan, scheduled to be played in Abu Dhabi from October 9.
Khaled, who picked up 16 wickets in three County Championship matches, is currently preparing with the Test squad and insisted it will take a couple of days to get back into full rhythm.
“The experience was, Alhamdulillah, very good. I had been out of the game for a long time. Then an opportunity came and I agreed to play in the county. So after going there, initially it was a little difficult to adjust to the cold. But when I started playing, Alhamdulillah, it went well,” said Khaled.
“As a professional cricketer, you have to adjust everywhere. As I told you before, after I went to England, I feel like adjusting to the cold. So, of course, it’s hot here in Dubai and so I have to adjust.
“It will be a problem if you keep that in mind, the heat. I’m trying to adjust and I’m bowling today, plus running yesterday, so I’ve almost adjusted,” he said.
“Maybe in a day or two, I’ll get the full rhythm in bowling and I have no excuse whether it’s hot or cold, nothing like that because as a professional cricketer, I’m always thinking about playing cricket on the field. So that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said.
Khaled added that his county stint was a learning curve for him.
“When I started playing cricket as a child, when I started understanding cricket, I had a dream that one day I would play in a franchise 4-day or franchise T20 league. So English cricket was very good for me. When I got the opportunity, I was very happy,” said the pacer.
“I haven’t played a single match since I left. Then I did not play the first game after reaching there and the captain and the coaches were telling me that you’re coming, there’s a matter of adjusting here after you come. So you try to adjust here. You’ll continue playing from the next match. Not only playing, but outside of playing, I’m having a lot of fun with them in the dressing room. They were very friendly,” he said.
Khaled thanked the BCB for introducing second XI four-day matches like county cricket and felt that it will help develop the cricketing system in the country if they prioritise first-class cricket.
“When I heard that Bangladesh is now being given a baggy cap for the first-class team, I was very excited. Since we are a Test-playing nation, if our first-class cricket could be organised like Test cricket, it would be very good,” said Khaled.
“It matters a lot, like clothes, it matters a lot, in the game, it matters a lot. Overall, it can be said that this is a good initiative. I would say that this thing has started now and that it will continue in the future so that more new players will come up,” he said.
“Here, if a player gets injured or a player goes out of form, then from here, that player from the first eleven can go to the second eleven and play, regain his form and come back to the first eleven. I mean, I would like to thank this board a lot for creating these things, because now our cricket is trying to go much higher. InshaAllah, we will take Test cricket to a much higher level in our country,” he concluded.