5 innings' of Mohammad Ashraful that changed the fortunes of Bangladesh cricket forever
Mohammad Ashraful was a right-handed Bangladeshi batsman, who was highly admired during his early cricketing days for his capability of recording eye-catching innings'.
The talented batsman kicked off his career with a record-breaking century against Sri Lanka on Test debut in Colombo. But attitude problems and inconsistent batting displays meant Ashraful's career did not pan out as it was supposed to be.
The batsman was banned by an independent tribunal from playing all form of cricket for his involvement in match and spot-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) back in 2013. His five-year-long ban has now been lifted, meaning he's eligible to play all formats of the game.
In the recently concluded Players Draft of BPL's next season (2019), Ashraful was picked up by Chittagong Vikings. It means he is all set to make a comeback to the BPL, and it will be his first high-tier cricket tournament after the ban.
Despite all the negatives, the talented right-hander has provided his nation with some amazing match-winning performances. In this article, we look back at his 5 best knocks for Bangladesh:
#1 Century on Test Debut at Colombo
Mohammad Ashraful's eventful career started in Sri Lanka back in 2001 when he smashed a century on Test debut at Colombo. Ashraful was only 17 years and 61 days when he achieved this amazing feat.
Hitting a century in his first Test, he broke the world record of being the youngest Test centurian on debut surpassing Hamilton Masakadza of Zimbabwe.
Ashraful smashed 114 runs off 212 balls when Bangladesh was just finding its feet in Test cricket. The world saw his inherent batting ability in that match. The right-hander smashed his first ever Test ton playing against bowlers like Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, who are often considered as best in their business.
The right-handed batsman has registered six Test centuries so far in his 61-match career. Majority of his centuries have come against the island nation, 5 to be precise, showing his affinity for the Lankan bowlers. His only other century against India which was another pearl of his career.