It was brilliant batting against a very tidy bowling side that included the likes of Muttiah Muralidaran. Young boys should take lessons from Ashraful's performance today. The way he played Murali, proves that the guy has huge talent.

But the other Bangladeshi batsmen, perhaps, did not do justice to the young man whose strokes were sights for sore eyes. They needed just to stay at the wicket and support him. Runs would have come automatically. The second highest score in the Bangladesh innings, Nafees Iqbal's 34, compared to Ashraful's 136 is no contribution at all. Had they shown some more patience, it would have been a great day. The way Nafees got out just before lunch was a pity. Before any break, you should not relax. The best way is to stay there and play a few maiden overs if needed. No harm done that way. No coach can help the batsmen in these situations because they need to help themselves.

Although there is no Chaminda Vaas, you can not ignore the Sri Lankan attack because Murali is the best spinner ever in the world. Also, Lasith Malinga's slingy action makes him a difficult bowler to pick. Ashraful really did well handling these two. I think he was getting desperate and running out of partners. So I don't blame the young man for being dismissed shortly before close of play.

Bangladesh have scored more than 300 runs on a day but the loss of nine wickets tells that they have a lot of hard work to get the Lankan batsmen out on a pitch that will assist them. The pace bowlers hardly would get any help. It's overall a good performance by Bangladesh considering Murali's presence in the opposition but had the hosts lost five wickets, I would have said perfect!