Ashraful eyeing new beginning
Image- Cricfrenzy
|| CF Correspondent ||
Former national skipper Mohammad Ashraful said after taking a beep test today that he has faith in his skill and is looking for a new beginning in the coming days.
"I am very confident. The way I am thinking at the moment is that I want to begin anew in terms of fitness and skill. I didn't think in the last eight or nine months that I will reach the level I have reached in terms of fitness and skill," Ashraful told reporters on Monday.
The BCB are looking to stage their second tournament amid the coronavirus pandemic with a T20 competition while the players' draft would take place on November 12/
Ashraful, who scored 11.4 in the beep test, said he feels his skills have improved and was confident he would contribute if picked by a side in the T20 tournament.
The cricketer was looking to match the fitness levels of much younger cricketers in order to reassert himself.
"Forgetting my past, I am undergoing fitness training with U-23 players and trying to match their levels of fitness, that's what I have been trying for the past eight or nine months.
"If you talk about my skill, I think from the beginning, the love I have been getting from people is due to my skill. I think my skill is the same as before, perhaps it's better than before. Last two-and-a-half months I have been undertaking individual training and worked with [Sarwar] Imran sir to improve myself immensely. In terms of the practice matches, I felt I still got the skill," he said.
Ashraful had been playing wherever he could manage in order to keep himself fit for the upcoming season but regretted that players outside the sphere of the national team had to manage training on their own most of the time.
"I have played in plenty of matches in the last few months wherever I got the opportunity in Dhaka. I did the fitness test today and scored 11.4. Would have been better if I scored a bit more.
"Actually, we Dhaka guys are a bit unlucky. It's been 20 years since Bangladesh got Test status but us Dhaka guys have to arrange for our training by ourselves since there is only one indoor facility and there the national team, HP and women's team and U-19s train. But the first-class cricketers and up and coming cricketers have less opportunity," he said.
