Mohammad Ashraful - A fragment of Bangladeshi talent

The youngest person to score a test century, also on his debut, Mogammad Ashraful is an immensely talented right handed batsman and leg spinner. A large part of Bangladesh’s middle order hopes rest on him.

He made his test debut against Sri Lanka. He scored exactly 100 in the match where Bangladesh beat Australia in the Natwest series 2005 at Cardiff. To prove that he is important when Bangladesh win, his ODI average is under 40 as against his career average which is over 22.

If he has a flaw, it is unfortunately that he is highly inconsistent. The average number of matches he plays between scoring two fifties is under 10. Ashraful, in his innings against South Africa in the World Cup, showed the completeness of his batting. He played some great straight drives, good cuts, cover drives and also had some Doug Marillier shots! He pulled off 2 but went on to get out as a result of that very shot. He played in every area of the field and showed the world his true batting potential.

But, for some reason, as mentioned earlier, consistency is not with him. His talent slapped you on the face right from his first few matches and age is also on his side. Bowlers, this a heads up for you.