Suspended former Bangaldesh captain Mohammad Ashraful will appeal for a lighter punishment after being indefinitely banned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for his role in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) spot-fixing scandal in 2013.
by BIPIN DANI
The 30-year old middle order batsman said, “I see my case totally different than Pakistani trio of Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt.
“They have been banned for five, seven and ten years respectively after their initial appeals were rejected by the tribunal, whereas in my case, I pleaded guilty on the very first day and so far I expect a lighter punishment.
“My appeal is likely to be heard after the ongoing Twenty20 matches and my lawyer (Yasin Patel) will also appeal on the ground that I am the only player who has accepted the crime on the very first day.”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) will allow the suspended players to use the training and practice facilities a few weeks before the end of their ban-period so as to allow them to be ready for an immediate return to international cricket.
“No specific suspension period has been mentioned in my case and therefore I am unable to use the BCB academy,” continued Ashraful. “However, I have been practicing locally at Gulshan ground and keep myself fit for my return.
“Yes, I buy tickets and go to watch all Twenty20 matches in Mirpur,” continued the player who holds the record of scoring a hundred at only 17 years and 61 days old when he notched three figures against Sri Lanka in Colombo in September 2001. “I was happy with Team India’s recent success - they are one of my favourites to lift the title this year.”
Bipin Dani
He has toured UAE, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Malaysia, to name a few, and contributes to a large number of newspapers in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
His twitter bio reads: Eat cricket stories, drink cricket stories, sleep cricket stories.
