Ashraful not part of BD selection committee’s plans

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s chief selector Minhajul Abedin has ruled out a return to international cricket for batsman Mohammad Ashraful until he can prove his fitness following a five-year ban.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Abedin said that currently Ashraful, whose ban will end on Monday (today), is not in the national selection panel’s plans.

“At the moment there is no place for him in the national team. We maintain high standards [of] fitness for the national team, along with high performance and Bangladesh A team. To attain that level of fitness he needs to be given some time and only if he achieves it, we can think about him. But, as of now, we are not thinking about him anywhere,” he said.

Ashraful, 34, was in 2013 handed a five-year ban for his role in match-fixing in that year’s edition of the Bangladesh Premier League.

In 2016, the Bangladesh Cricket Board allowed him to feature in domestic cricket. Over the past two seasons, Ashraful scored five List A centuries at an average of 47.83, and in 13 first-class games he has averaged 21.85 with one century.

He recently told ESPNcricinfo that he was determined to play for Bangladesh again.In a career that began in 2001, former Bangladesh captain Ashraful has played 177 ODIs, 61 Tests and 23 T20Is. He is Bangladesh’s fifth-highest run-getting Tests with 273 and fourth-highest in ODIs with 3468.