Ashraful appointed as new Bangladesh assistant coach in lead-up to upcoming Test and T20I series against Ireland.
Ashraful replaces Salahuddin as Bangladesh assistant coach.
Mohammad Ashraful, a former captain of Bangladesh, has taken over as the team’s assistant coach in lieu of Mohammad Salahuddin.
One of Bangladesh’s most significant historical episodes included Ashraful. In 2005, he led the squad to a spectacular upset against Australia at the age of just 20. His career, which included 177 ODIs and produced 3468 runs—the fifth-highest for his nation—including that century. In addition, Ashraful participated in 23 Twenty20 Internationals and 61 Test matches, making history as the youngest player to reach 100. As recently as two years ago, he was playing domestic cricket.
In November 2024, Salahuddin was hired to assist head coach Phil Simmons. Having spent almost thirty years teaching at different levels in Bangladesh and building excellent relationships with the current crop of players, he was in charge of the batting unit.
2025 was a challenging year for the team and its management, with T20I series losses to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and most recently the West Indies, ODI series losses to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, and Test match losses to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
There were ups and downs in Ashraful’s personal career. He was banned from all BCB-related cricket activities for a long time in 2013 due to his involvement in match-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League. Three years later, he was finally reunited with the team, and more recently, he has ventured into coaching. Ashraful expressed his dissatisfaction with the pattern of Bangladesh’s top-order hitters not contributing enough to the squad last month. He now has the opportunity to take action.
In November and December, Bangladesh will host Ireland for two Test matches and three Twenty20 Internationals.