Ashraful joins Bangladesh coaching staff for Ireland series

Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful has been appointed as the specialist batting coach of the national team in their upcoming home series against Ireland this month.

The announcement was made after Monday's board of directors meeting at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

Former national selector Abdur Razzak was also named team director for the series.

"Ashraful has the experience — that's a given. He has already completed the coaching courses, and mainly his experience was the key for us in this role," Razzak told the media during the briefing.

Question was raised whether senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin is being replaced as batting coach. "Salahuddin bhai is the senior assistant coach. No one has been displaced for failure, Ashraful has been included in the setup," Razzak said when asked if constant batting failure saw Asharful's appointment.

Ashraful has however just been included in the setup for just the Ireland series. "We will take a decision as the board going forward," Razzak said on whether Ashraful will be continuing in the role past the Ireland series.

Razzak also discussed his new role in the national team setup.

"My role will be like any other team director's role. I will observe, keep an eye on things, and if anyone needs any help, I'll provide it," he said. "If they need anything, I'll try to help," he added.

"The cricket board thought a team director might help the side, and it's nothing new — this post has been there for a while. In recent times, there wasn't much director presence with the team since there were no directors in the board," Razzak said when asked why the board felt the post was necessary.

BCB informed that the daily allowance of female cricketers has been raised from 50 USD to 75 USD and monthly salaries were increased by 35 percent.