Ashraful's Ctg drought on

THIS IS HOW HE WENT ABOUT HIS JOB: Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful miscues a drive only to be caught by Aaron Redmond (not in picture) at cover in the second innings of the first Test at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR

Bangladesh skipper Mohammad Ashraful remained quite cool yesterday in the face of some heated comments from the crowd, after throwing his wicket away during a crucial phase of the first Test against New Zealand.
It was a contrast from the first innings, when another Ashraful failure was followed by similar comments from the crowd.
On that occasion the Bangladesh captain lost his cool and appeared gesturing to the fans with his bat from the pavilion.
While his reaction was different this time, Ashraful's continued failures in the port city have seen the fans' patience wearing thin.
It was the talented batsman's third consecutive single figure score in the southeastern city as he under-performed both in the first innings (2) and the third and final ODI (8).
This follows another disappointing score during last year's South Africa tour when his Chittagong leg yielded only four runs from two innings.
With such high standards expected of the country's talisman, the cries of, “This is the time for you to leave, give a chance to the good newcomers, take rest for somebody Ashraful,” could only be interpreted as frustration from the part of the avid fans who turned out at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium.
“We thought Ashraful would play the role of the anchorman, overcoming his failure today while Bangladesh needed runs and wickets to fight the visitors,” said Emon, a university student watching the match from the “Special Enclosure.”
“The shot Ashraful played was nothing that could not be avoided, but his irresponsible batting pushed the team in a worse situation,” Emon observed.
Comparing Ashraful to Daniel Vettori, another viewer, Syem Ahmed said that the Tigers captain should take lessons from his New Zealand opposite number who saved his team to some extent in the first innings through an unbeaten 55 runs and then bowled 31 overs today [Sunday] taking Ashraful's wicket for second time in the Test match.
“A captain should take responsibility in the crucial moments of the game. That is what cricket history shows,” Syem said.