Ashraful: A hero-turned villain

I felt sad when I heard about my once favourite Bangladesh cricketer Ashraful being banned from all forms of cricket for eight years for fixing matches and it means the talented prodigy's cricket career is over and it is a sad chapter in our cricket history. He was known for his flashy batting style and was loved by the cricket lovers at home and abroad. As a young cricketer Ashraful played 177 one day international matches, and 61 test matches. In  both formats of cricket his average was above 22 and he was a dependable pillar of Bangladesh cricket. Ashraful is remembered as the architect of the famous win against Australia. It was an unbelievable match where Ashraful scored 100 to lead his side to victory and was named man of the match for his heroic efforts.
He scored two more half centuries in the series which involved England also.  The victory was described as "the biggest upset in one-day international history" by  the Wisden, a cricket reference book known as the bible of cricket. Now all that is a matter of the past and Ashraful cannot blame anyone but himself and his wayward attitude and unlimited greed. I hope this stringent punishment will work as an eye opener for our cricketers and also for those who cannot control temptation.
Mohammad Sohel hara
Shahjadpur, Dhaka