SK Player of the day: Mohammad Ashraful, the 17-year old boy from Bangladesh who challenged the might of Muttiah Muralitharan

Wahidul Ghani played for Bangladesh in a one-day international match against Pakistan in the 1988 edition of Asia Cup at Chittagong. He was legspinner and got the opportunity to bowl six overs against Ramiz Raja, Salim Malik and Ijaz Ahmed, but was not successful enough.

Pakistan posted a mammoth total in 45 overs, but failed to skittle out the Tigers, who managed to end their innings at 111 for 6. It was a big win for Pakistan, but the Bangladeshis were happy that the strong bowling attack of Pakistan could not rattle them.

It was Wahidul Ghani’s one and only international match. He did feature in domestic cricket, but not with great distinction. After retiring from active cricket, he took the responsibility of grooming youngsters in his coaching school named “Ankur”.

For Ghani, cricket is like an oxygen and he is extremely passionate about the game. He wished to inject the same passion among the boys of Bangladesh at grass root level without fees – a rarity in Bangladesh and thus, kept on working with them.

For the young guns of his coaching school, he was the father figure and a symbol of hard work and discipline. Ghani’s honest and hard efforts reaped a rich harvest as one of his students hit the headlines on September 8, 2001.

It was one of the most memorable moments in the history of Bangladesh cricket. Bangladesh’s journey in Test cricket commenced, and surely, Ghani was one of those persons who witnessed the Test first day’s proceedings with misty eyes.

Like the passionate Bangladeshi sports lovers of the 80s and 90s, Ghani also firmly believed, one day Bangladesh will also feature in the Test arena along with the big boys and script historical moments. Ghani’s dream came true and the Test status of Bangladesh gave him a wonderful opportunity to showcase the talents from his school.

One of his boys didn’t disappoint at all.

The rise of Mohammad Ashraful

Mohammad Ashraful was just 11 years old when he was selected for Wahidul Ghani’s camp. Ghani’s cricketing eyes were sharp and at first sight, he could realize, Ashraful is a special talent and a bit more nurturing would galvanize him into a diamond.

Ashraful featured in the Under 19 World Cup held in January 2000 where he was mocked for his frail and childish physique and even the local experts did the same. But Ghani infused enough confidence in Ashraful and kept on backing him.

Bangladesh traveled to Sri Lanka in 2001 to play their second match of the Asian Test Championship. They were beaten comprehensively by Pakistan at Multan and the outing at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo was widely predicted as a hopeless mismatch. The Tigers had to digest a lot of criticisms for their lack of ability to fight and for which, their Test status was questioned by many.

The critics became more vociferous when the Bangladeshi batting folded for just 90 on a bone dry track and they dragged their swords out to slice the team when the Sri Lankan batsmen made a joke of the innocuous Bangladeshi medium pacers. The Lankans posted 555 for 5 in 103.3 overs and declared the innings on day 2.

Bangladesh’s start of the second innings was as usual shaky. At stumps on day 2, they were 100 for 4 with Aminul Islam and Mohammad Ashraful at the crease.

Mohammad Ashraful struck a composed 26 in the first innings and with the bat, he looked more assured than most of his senior colleagues. A promising innings could not shape up into something big, but it hinted at bigger things to come.

Mohammad Ashraful was batting on 4 and started the day 3 with a single off Ravindra Pushpakumara. In Pushpakumara’s next over, he was watchful and didn’t take any runs. At the other end, the experienced Aminul Islam, weathered the storm of Chaminda Vaas and shielded Ashraful.

But when Ashraful’s turn came to face Vaas, he greeted the wily customer from Sri Lanka with a boundary.

For a 17-year old, it was easy to lose cool and play rash strokes, but Ashraful curbed his attacking instincts for a while and relied on strike rotation and occupying the crease. But then unleashed it against the best spinner in the world during that time, Muttiah Muralitharan.

In the first innings, Murali drowned the Bangladeshi batsmen at the Indian Ocean, but in the second innings, his might was challenged.

Ashraful came down the wicket and charged him bravely by using his feet with authority to essay crisp strokes. He could pick Murali’s doosra and orthodox deliveries very well and time the strokes better than most of the contemporary batsmen of the world during that time. His ability to play the ball late by pivoting on the back foot and execute the pull on the back and drive on the front foot at such a young age, astonished many.

What was expected to be an early finish before lunch turned into a fascinating contest between the best spinner in the world and an unknown 16-year old boy from Bangladesh who was out there to salvage pride for his battered team.

If Murali planned to deliver a doosra, Ashraful would come down the ground and whack it over mid on. If Murali turned the ball from wide of off to middle and leg, Ashraful would pull-sweep it over midwicket and if the doosras cut middle and leg and moved towards off, Ashraful would execute the late and square cut.

But for a single moment, his composure was not hampered. The boy played the role of a sheet anchor to swell the Bangladeshi total and stitched productive partnerships with Aminul Islam and Naimur Rahman.

A boundary off Chaminda Vaas brought up his hundred and he became the youngest ever player to score a Test century on debut, beating a 30-year-old record, which had been set by Pakistan batsmen Mushtaq Mohammad (17 years 82 days) against India at Delhi in 1960/61.

A lapse of concentration led to Ashraful’s demise, but his four-hour 114 overshadowed Murali’s feats. Murali was adjudged man of the match, but he was so impressed with Ashraful’s batting that he generously donated his share of the cheque for the award to the wonder kid from Bangladesh.

Mohammad Ashraful had made Wahidul Ghani proud. His hard work had paid off. And above all, 15 years ago, Ashraful gave the Bangladeshis the option to dream again. The fans were disgusted by the spineless efforts in the last one year or so and that fighting knock from him, infused new hope to move forward.

Certainly, Bangladesh cricket has come a long way, but sadly, the story of Ashraful could not be as glorious as it was supposed to be.