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Dhaka Gladiators v Khulna Royal Bengals, BPL 2012-13
'I felt as if I had forgotten how to bat' - Ashraful
Mohammad Isam
February 11, 2013
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Players/Officials:
Mohammad Ashraful
Series/Tournaments:
Bangladesh Premier League
| Bangladesh Domestic Season
Teams:
Bangladesh
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Mohammad Ashraful thought he had forgotten how to hold the bat after a torrid start to the 2012-13 season. But a first-class hundred on the normally flat Bogra wicket, which he considered a lucky break, and now an unbeaten 103 against Khulna Royal Bengals in the BPL have completely turned around his form, and possibly his mindset towards making runs.
He averaged only 13.22 for Dhaka Metropolis in the National Cricket League, aggregating 119 runs in nine innings. There were questions raised after he was included in the Central Zone side for the year's second first-class tournament. Not many would have expected him to make two centuries thereafter as the usual wait for the Ashraful special had dissipated years ago.
"During this season's National Cricket League, I felt as if I had forgotten how to bat," Ashraful said. "Even after the first match of the BCL, I didn't feel like playing anymore in the tournament. But I was persuaded by [Mahmudullah] Riyad and then I was lucky to play in Bogra, where there's a flat wicket and I scored a hundred."
Ashraful believed that had he been under less pressure from the public and the media, he could have played more freely. Maybe the freedom from the limelight has helped him regain confidence in this season's BPL.
"You need luck to make big runs and today luck was on my side. If I score 20 or 25 runs in the next game, everyone will say that I have flopped. In the last two games, I hit the ball straight to fielders. It was my bad luck, so when people talk about it, the pressure goes up.
"There's less pressure in BPL, I can play my shots. I was confident I would do well here. It also helps to bat in the top-order, especially opening the batting in T20s. I think this year more local players are getting opportunity at the top order," he said.
He made a slow start to this year's BPL before hitting 73 against Rangpur Riders in the second game. His next best had been 38 until today, so presented with another big chase, Ashraful hardly changed his method of batting in a Twenty20.
"I don't think you can play T20s with a hundred in front of your mind. You have to play it ball by ball. I had the chance to slow down. I could have just picked the singles towards the last two overs but I was thinking of finishing the chase.
The only moment during the 58-ball innings when he thought a century was a possibility was when he had taken a breather after ten overs. But even after he was dropped off a difficult chance on 94, he hardly believed it was coming.
"After 10 overs, my score was 56. I thought if I played all the overs, I will have a chance. I wanted to be aggressive from the start, because I think this was the best wicket so far in the tournament. When they made 176, we all thought they were 20 runs short. I was told to play straight, and with that in mind, I continued doing so," Ashraful said.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent
Feeds: Mohammad Isam
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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I am Indian but i still think he is one of the very good batsmen produced by Bangladesh, and i personally think that he should hire abatting coach for himself for a year who is technically sound and should try to play county cricket for season or two to improve in all parts of his game as he has age on his side, he will definately come good, if you talk on your t-20 form ypu will not succeed you need to prove in longer format. Best of luck ashraful and i hope you read this comment, as it is very usefull for you future carrier.
He might not be the consistent one but watching him batting is always delightful. He is a genuine stroke maker. He needs only one weapon in his arsenal, and that is consistency. If he can perform on a regular basis then no other BD player can steal his place.
That shot against the Afghanistan fast bowler was top class a joy to the eye but it will be a gamble to select him for tours to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe especially now we have so many exciting young batsman coming up wanting to grab those places. But I don't want BCB to guarantee players like Tamim their slots even if they don't perform and be more strict who plays for the national team. Our batsman right now Shamsur, Anamul, Shahriar, Milon yes even Ashraful are a threat to Tamim, Rahim, Shakib, Mahmudullah etc now.
However, he should definitely be part of our T20 plans especially for the World T20 next year.
Ashraful is a mystery, the most unreliable batsman in the BD team but on his day he is as good as anyone in world cricket. Seeing him bat in full flow is an absolute pleasure. His cover drives, off drives and the wristy flicks of the toes are treat for eye but alas those are few and far between....
Again, absolutely clueless Bangladesh fans showering praises without simple scrutiny. Just look at this guy's average- he has a poor average of 22 in both versions of the games. If this is what talented means then God Bless Bangladesh cricket.
If career average or scoring runs is not the criteria then he is very talented.
This is a classic case of a one-eyed man in a city of blinds. I really hope this player develops his skills and hone his talent at performing in both versions of the game.
Posted by NazmuS_SaadaT on (February 13, 2013, 15:24 GMT)Though, there are as many as players t0 get chance in the nati0nal squad, we n0tice with sheer frustati0n that there is no such useful Fast Bowlers being created like we are having many useful spinners. In recent days, we saw that though Nazmul Hossain did g00d in the intl. matches, he didn't have much chances to pr0ve himself. We need to give him such chances. Moreover, Talha Zubayer, a rising seamer, being a good b0wler, didn't get chance at BPL.
We sh0uld n0t only depend on spin, because we d0n't play matches in 0nly Indian sub-c0ntinent. We have to play in Aus, New Zealand, RSA, WI, ENG where Seamers get m0re advantage than Spinners get. So, it's a gr0wing c0ncern f0r us. For that, we need to make pitches n0t only fav0urable for spin but also for seam. Then, we will see many seamers will come out. .
BCB should think over it. Otherwise, it will be a bad headache for BangLadeshi Cricket.
Posted by NazmuS_SaadaT on (February 13, 2013, 15:20 GMT)Ashraful is young en0ugh t0 carry on his career for long time. But it's nice to see that there are many p0tential players, along batsman, bowlers and allr0unders, in the pipeline for BANGLADESH. Shamsur, Nazmul Hossain, Mukhtar, Taijul, Monir, Marshal, Shabbir, Naeem Jnr etc are m0st of them. And there are many young and emerging players like Nasir, Anamul, Gazi, Enamul Jnr, Mehrab Jnr, Abul Hasan, Farhad, Shafiul, Rubel apart from Shakib, Tamim, Mushi, Mahmudullah, Murtaza etc.
Thus, there is going to be c0mpititi0ns t0 get chance in the national squad that did n0t exist in the past.
Posted byI was utterly disappointed for the series of comedies Ashraful performed in the match against Burners right after I posted my first comment on this article yesterday.
Posted byThose who support ash and says about his contribution, i don't see anything to object with their comments. To do justice with him, he was selected & given chance to play at home & abroad consistently though he remained in-consistent for all forms of cricket since long.No other player got so much of chance like him in spite of poor performances continuously. Mentally, he is sick. He cannot accept good performance of others with grace. Lot many young stars are waiting in the line to bring laurels for the country. They shown their talent by now. They need good examples from seniors like Mash, Tanim, Shakib, Razzak are showing now. Ashrafuls activities will be highly demoralizing and will lead our future generation towards wrong direction. We need good men / women for all sectors. They may perform differently but will not jeopardize teams spirit as a whole. If u don't believe, let him remain as Gladiator's Captain- you will see the result soon yourself. Keep ash out permanently. NO ALT.
Posted byIf there is no doubt about his batting ability, then there is sure doubt about his mentality. We still remember the issues for which Shakib and Tamim was axed from their Captaincy very harshly without even minimum ceremony. In those days, we also know how ashraful manipulated things to occupy top position as Captain. But, luckily enough that selectors didn't fall in the trap & Mushfiq got the chance as Captain since then. The way Shakib cooperated with Mushi after loosing his position as Captain- ash didn't. If Mushi fails, people will start talking about him again. After 100 in BP L, he stated in the interview that he can do wonder as Captain only. Is that so? What he did yesterday? When Dishan was out after scoring 32 in 10th over, ash scored only 16 playing 23 balls. Shakib got in after Dilshan's departure and scored 8 in just 2 balls. In the next over, ash called for run, Shakib responded, but ash didn't move from his place. Cricinfo commentator said" what have u done ash just now?