Bangladesh are in pole position to whitewash Ireland in the ongoing two-match Test series, which is hardly surprising when playing at home against a new Test side.
I was already a regular member of the Bangladesh team when Mushfiqur Rahim arrived on the scenes in 2005 in the England tour. He announced himself by scoring a hundred and a fifty in practice matches against County sides. He then made his Test debut at Lord’s as a specialist batter as Pilot bhai (Khaled Mashud) was still our wicketkeeper. But after the Lord’s Test, he unfortunately twisted his ankle while coming down the staircase and had to return home.
Few understand Bangladesh’s persistent batting woes better than Ashraful.
Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful has been appointed as the specialised batting coach for the national team in their upcoming home series against Ireland this month.
When a team need 65 runs off 47 balls with seven wickets in hand while chasing a modest 150-run target to stay alive in a series, composure -- not urgency -- is what’s required.
Bangladesh Tigers, a team composed of ex-Bangladesh cricketers such as Mohammad Ashraful, Elias Sunny, Mohammed Nazimuddin and Naeem Islam, had flown to India on March 9 to take part in the Asian Legends League, a T20 tournament for retired cricketers.
Rangpur Riders assistant coach Mohammad Ashraful blamed his team’s unexpected exit from the Bangladesh Premier League T20 on the absence of Pakistan all-rounder Khushdil Shah and the inconsistency dished out by local talents.
Bangladesh’s weakness against quality bowling attacks once again came to the foray on Wednesday in the first ODI against Afghanistan, in which despite having the upper hand for the majority of the contest, they ended up losing by 92 runs in Sharjah.
“Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Almighty Allah, I am excited to share that I've officially qualified as an ICC Level 3 coach,” Ashraful wrote on Facebook.
Rangpur Riders assistant coach Mohammad Ashraful blamed his team’s unexpected exit from the Bangladesh Premier League T20 on the absence of Pakistan all-rounder Khushdil Shah and the inconsistency dished out by local talents.
Bangladesh’s weakness against quality bowling attacks once again came to the foray on Wednesday in the first ODI against Afghanistan, in which despite having the upper hand for the majority of the contest, they ended up losing by 92 runs in Sharjah.
“Alhamdulillah, by the grace of Almighty Allah, I am excited to share that I've officially qualified as an ICC Level 3 coach,” Ashraful wrote on Facebook.
“Comparing the way associate teams like the USA, Canada, Papua New Guinea have played, I feel that Bangladesh have regressed in T20s,” Ashraful told The Daily Star.
It is not unknown to anyone that Bangladesh are still to come to terms with the T20 format -- a rudimentary assessment of the Tigers’ T20 calibre and a glance at how the Tigers fared in the previous editions of the T20 World Cup would be enough to realise that.
Three of Bangladesh’s finest cricketing talents caught up with each other at the heart of the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Tuesday, ahead of a Bangladesh Premier League fixture between Rangpur Riders and Khulna Tigers. Rangpur Riders all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan was busy with his side’s bowling coach Mohammad Rafique when former captain Mohammad Ashraful, now working as a TV analyst, decided to catch up with his former national teammates. Photos: Firoz Ahmed
“I feel that it’s belittling the tournament. This kind of tournament is watched all over the world," Ashraful said
Four matches into Bangladesh’s campaign in the ICC ODI World Cup, the pre-tournament optimism surrounding the Tigers has all but withered away.
Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful said that he does not harbour any hopes of returning to Bangladesh colours and said that he is planning to retire from cricket after playing for another one or two seasons.
Former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful is set to feature for the Lashings World XI alongside former international cricketers in a charity T20 game against Letchworth Garden City Cricket Club in England today.
