Dhaka – Mohammad Ashraful has been picked by Chittagong Vikings during the auction of players for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at a city hotel on Sunday.The former Bangladesh national cricket team captain, who became eligible in August 2018 to play international and BPL games after serving a five-year ban for match-fixing, expressed his feelings, saying, “I have been waiting for long for the day. I am feeling good.”
“I’ll try to play for the victory of my team. Since my dream is to be back in the national side, my good performance in the tournament will widen the chance for a spot in the team,” Ashraful told reporters.
Ashraful was suspended from all levels of domestic and international cricket in June 2013 for the fixing during the BPL first edition. He was cleared to play domestic cricket in August 2016 before being cleared for international cricket in 2018.
After having clearance for domestic cricket, Ashraful played in the Premier Division League, first class National Cricket League and Bangladesh Cricket League.
Category B player in the BPL players’ draft, Ashraful got space alongside Mushfiqur Rahim, a Category A+ player, to play in the franchised tournament likely to start on January 5, 2019.
Chittagong Vikings also picked seven foreign players — Sikandar Raza, Luke Ronchi, Mohammad Shahzad, Robbie Frylinck, Cameron Delport, Dasun Shanaka and Najibullah Zadran — to form the team.
Chittagong Vikings squad: Sunzamul Islam, Sikandar Raza, Luke Ronchi, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Shahzad, Robbie Frylinck, Mosaddek Hossain, Abu Jayed, Khaled Ahmed, Nayeem Hasan, Cameron Delport, Dasun Shanaka, Mohammad Ashraful, Robiul Haque, Yasir Ali, Nihaduzzaman, Najibullah Zadran and Shadman Islam.UNB
