Ashraful eyeing BPL route to national call-up
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Former Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful said he will try to put up his case in the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League, country’s lone franchise-based T20 tournament, as that will help him get into the radar of the national team.
Ashraful is now free to play for the Bangladesh national team after a five-year exile from the international scene. The youngest Test centurion is also eligible to participate in the Bangladesh Premier League [BPL], where he had last appeared in 2013, before a match-fixing scandal put a halt to his professional career.
The right-handed batsman has been training hard in a bid to prove himself once again and find his place in the national team. He has recently been to England to hone his skills, as he looks to make a comeback to the national side ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup next year, which is scheduled to take place in the same country.
“I have played matches besides training there [in England],” Ashraful said.
The former Bangladesh captain last played for the Tigers back in May 2013. He now wants to return to the national team by doing something extraordinary in the domestic circuit.
Ashraful has had a very good campaign in the Dhaka Premier League last season. Although his individual brilliance failed to rescue the team, Kalabagan Krira Chakra, from getting relegated, it was enough for him to steal the limelight.
BCB selectors, however, have denied his chances of getting into the national side anytime soon on various occasions, citing the batsman’s inconsistency and also the large pool of potential performers they have.
Regarding his chances on returning to the national side, Ashraful said: “If I had any matches to play now, I would have a chance to perform and earn a spot in the team. But there are no [domestic] games right now.
“I want do something special when the [domestic] season starts. I don’t want to take any shortcut to make a comeback. I want to return to the team after performing [well] for enough time. If I return after performing well, I can play there for a long time.”
Ashraful was the second-highest run-getter amongst Bangladeshi batsman in the BPL in 2012. He was also one of the five most run-scorers of the country in the next edition of the tournament. In the upcoming season of the competition, the 34-year-old would surely like to reestablish his reputation.
