A plethora of microphones and mobile phones are held in front of Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful (C) after BCB allowed him to speak to the media yesterday after practice at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.Photo: STAR

At last Mohammad Ashraful spoke to the media after Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) gag order ended yesterday.
The Bangladesh captain was presented in front of journalists but it was evident that the cricket board did not want any goof-ups as they posted the media manager and the team operations manager during the informal press meet, Ashraful's first since he arrived in the country from England on Monday.
However, there would be no complaint from the board as Ashraful expressed his side of the story quite efficiently.
Ashraful confirmed speculations that talk of a player revolt was being planned during the recent Australia tour.
"Our coach [Jamie Siddons] told me that some of the players could be signing for ICL [Indian Cricket League]. When I asked the players, they all denied it straightaway," informed Ashraful after Wednesday's practice at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
"If I had any idea that so many players were actually joining then I definitely would have told the cricket board," said the 24-year-old Ashraful.
But he confirmed that a three-year deal did come his way and that it was worth around Tk 15 crore.
"The first ICL offer came to me through an agent and it was a three-year deal. I informed our chief selector [Rafiqul Alam], [Gazi Ashraf Hossain] Lipu bhai and my coach [Wahidul Gani] about it," confided Ashraful.
"When I asked Lipu bhai what will happen if I take up the contract, he told me that I wouldn't be able to play for Bangladesh.
"He also told me that if I play well, we might have a chance to play in the Indian Premier League [IPL] next year. After hearing all these from him, I immediately rejected the offer and don't know what happened next," said Ashraful.
So the million-dollar question is: Were you the mastermind behind all these?
"That is totally wrong. I have never met that agent and only talked to him over the phone. He is well known to many Bangladeshi players as he has arranged sponsors for a number of local players and helped them in getting club contracts in the UK. I believe he contacted them directly.
"Some people are calling me the mastermind. They should remember that the biggest offer came to me. Fifteen crore taka over a three-year period is not a matter of joke. But my involvement with the ICL ended the moment I refused that offer," said Ashraful.
When he was pressed further in this regard, he defended himself and challenged the player in question, Dhiman Ghosh, who alleged the skipper of encouraging him (Dhiman) to sign in ICL as he's not the first-choice wicketkeeper.
"I would have preferred if he [Dhiman] had said that in front of me," demanded Ashraful.
"Even if some people held any grudges against me, they never mentioned it. Professional players should understand that if you are out of the side that means you are not performing. There is no way in the world that you will be left out when you have performance behind you.
"I read somewhere that [Shahriar] Nafees and Aftab [Ahmed] had remarked that I wanted them out of the way as they could have been future captains; that I stopped their path. If they knew they were captaincy material then why an earth would they want to leave?" said the ace batsman.
Ashraful also reiterated that he would not be going to the rebel Indian league even if he were to be left out of the national team.
"Even if I lose the captaincy or get dropped, I would not consider ICL because I want to play Tests and ODIs. Nothing is more important to me than representing the country.
"If I'm dropped for bad form, I know that I can bounce back even if it takes two years because I have age on my side," opined Ashraful.
He added that he only heard of the whole ICL fiasco when he was in England, where he went on a vacation (after returning from Australia) and did a couple of charity fund-raisers for Sidr victims.
He viewed that it is the ICL-bound players who were the bigger losers, as they had to give up their chance to play for Bangladesh.
"The players joining the ICL have lost more because they can't play international or first-class cricket and there will be others to fill in the gap.
"We lost fourteen out of roughly 160 first-class players. It is true that we will miss their experience to a certain extent because they had played top level cricket for a number of years but the newer guys will gain experience the same way," added Ashraful.