Ash to lose top job

BCB announces team today
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is all set to announce the name of the new captain in place of under-fire Mohammad Ashraful when the Test squad for the tour of West Indies is declared today.
It is none other than Ashraful’s long-term deputy Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the 25-year old, dubbed as Narail Express, who so far played 35 Tests and 103 ODIs, who is all set to take the hot job.
World’s number one all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim are in the race for the vice-captain post but the former has a bright chance to act as deputy of Mashrafe.
It is however all but confirmed that the 24-year old Ashraful, will accompany the team in the Caribbean tour as a batsman.
Ashraful has been facing criticism following a thumping loss to Ireland, which made sure of the Tigers early exit from the ICC World Twenty20 in England and his performance as a batsman also came under scrutiny.
After this massive failure, the call for his removal from the top job has become louder but Ashraful put the ball into the BCB’s (Bangladesh Cricket Board) court by saying that he is still enjoying the job.
And few days back BCB’s spokesman Jalal Yunus informed that most of the Board of Directors were in favour of removal of Ashraful from the captaincy.
Ashraful took the helm from Habibul Bashar, who was removed from the hot seat following his poor form with the bat, in June 2007 and the job was extended in February this year until the conclusion of the tour of West Indies in July-August. But the board changed their mind to fire Ashraful before the completion of the tenure.
Rafiqul Alam-led selection panel chose the Test squad from the 20-member provisional squad which is now practicing under the guidance of Khaled Mahmud.
The Bangladesh team will leave for Caribbean on June 29 to play one T20, three ODIs and two Tests.
The Tigers will open their tour with a three-day warm-up game against West Indies A which will start from July 3 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown.
The first Test will take place at the Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent on July 9-13 while the second and final Test is scheduled for July 17-21 at the National Cricket Stadium, St George’s, Grenada.
The three ODIs are scheduled for July 26 (Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica), July 28 (Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica) and July 31 (Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts).
The tour will end with the lone T20 match on August 2 at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts.

Courtesy of The Daily Star