Bangladesh cricket needs Mohammad Ashraful

Mohammad Ashraful burst into the scene with a hundred against the mighty Sri Lankans in the Asian Test championship in 2001. He turned a terrible mismatch into a slice of history by becoming the youngest man or I guess I should tag him as a boy, to make a Test hundred. Bangladesh still crushed into a defeat, but "Ash" brought hope and consolidation with a dazzling hundred by continuously hitting the great Muralitharan dancing down the wicket over his head.

Ashraful was playing in his debut Test match.

Ashraful broke Mushtaq Mohammad's long standing record of the youngest Test batsman to score a test hundred. Ashraful had arrived on the scene and with this, the height of expectations reached its peak.

The burden of expectation was too much for a 16-year old boy.  He failed to live up to the expectations and lean patches had become a regularity. After continuous poor run of form, Ashraful was dropped during the 2003 England series. He returned again and demonstrated a glorious knock of 158 not out in defeat against the touring Indians in Chittagong in 2004. It was one of the best knocks I have ever seen by a Bangladeshi batsmen till now.

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The next year Ashraful scored a hundred at Cardiff in the Natwest tri-series against the Australians to essay a stunning win against the World Champions. In their next match against England at Nottingham, Ashraful sliced the English attack into pieces by scoring a stroke-ful 94 off 52 balls. Bangladesh lost that match, but Ash's innings was the talk of the town.

The next year in 2006 Ashraful again failed to live up to the expectations. His poor form led him to be dropped from the final qualifying match against Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy in India. He was omitted from the home series against Zimbabwe in 2006. but stormed into the side with a storming 263 for the Dhaka division against the Chittagong division.

In the West Indies during the 2007 World Cup, Ashraful was the man to watch. His knock of 87 against the Proteas at Guyana in the super eight match was one of the finest in World Cup history. His execution of the paddle scoop off Andre Nel was jaw-dropping stuff. Riding on Ash’s quick-fire 87, the Tigers posted a fighting total which the Proteas failed to chase down as they were devoured by the Bangladeshi spinners.  

Habibul Bashar left the scene after being axed from captaincy and made way for Ashraful. He had his share of success with captaincy during the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 against the West Indies with a rollicking 62 and also the first ever victory against the Kiwis in the first ODI at Mirpur in 2008. But as time progressed, captaincy affected his own performance.

The way he was getting out at each and every match was painful for the eyes. As a captain he was never a sound one. His tactics were always back fired. Ashraful was getting lost within himself. Naturally an attacking cricketer, Ashraful, after becoming the captain, curbed his natural stroke making abilities and adopted the ploy of a defensive batsman.

And for which,  neither was he able to dominate the bowlers nor could he do well by applying his new ploy – he had been a big failure. The continuous poor form and the team's string of poor performances led to the end of his captaincy.

Even after being relieved of his captaincy Ash's performance remained frustrating and irritating for the Bangladeshi cricket fans. The media, which always supported him lost their patience as well. The axing of Ashraful was demanded by everyone. Mohammad Ashraful was axed from the England series of 2010.

But is this the end of Ashraful?

In my opinion, such talents must not meet a sad end. Ash is still young and still has a lot to offer. In terms of merit Ashraful is right there at the top. The manner with which he executes his strokes is simply mind-blowing. But after 53 Test matches and 158 ODIs, Ashraful's average of 22.78 and 23.72 in the respective games is frustrating. They only reflect on how poorly he has failed to exploit his talent.

Perhaps Ashraful must need to learn to manage his innings and polish his temperament and technique a bit more. He needs to get back to his natural style of play. Also, he needs to learn to switch gears according to the demand of the situation. He is in need of proper guidance and none can be better than Jamie Siddons.

Mohammad Ashraful is one of the assets of Bangladesh cricket. Every great and talented cricketer go through a dark phase. We have criticized him, but in the mean time, we have loved him as well. We don't want to lose him. Bangladesh cricket needs him.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar