Former Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful recently revealed that his desire to once again represent his country with his five-year ban for involvement in match-fixing and spot-fixing almost coming to an end.
Ashraful received a suspension of 3 years from domestic cricket for his involvement in corruption in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Having already been given the green signal to play in Bangladesh’s domestic competitions in 2016, the 34-year-old will become eligible for international cricket and the BPL from August 13.
As quoted in ESPNcricinfo, Ashraful said, “I have been waiting for August 13, 2018, for a long time now. It has been more than five years since the day I admitted my involvement. Although I have played domestic cricket in the last two seasons, there is now nothing preventing me from being eligible for national selection. Playing for Bangladesh again will be my greatest achievement.”
ALSO READ:Â Bangladesh Batsman Caught Abusing His FansÂ
The right-hand batsman has been in good form in List-A games as he has maintained an average of 47.63 in 23 matches. He also became only the second batsman after Alviro Peterson (2015-16 Momentum One-Day Cup) to score five centuries in a single List-A tournament. However, he has not been able to carry forward his form in first-class games where he only averages 21.85 in the last two years.
Talking about his game, the former skipper said, “The first season after my return wasn’t great but I did well in the 2017-18 season. I hope to do even better in the coming seasons. Now I can be considered for selection through my performance. I have already gone through a month-long training programme and after August 15, I will go into pre-season training leading into the upcoming season’s National Cricket League.”
Ashraful has played 61 Tests, 177 One-Day Internationals and 23 Twenty20 Internationals for Bangladesh in which he amassed as many as 2737, 3468 and 450 runs respectively.
