da prosport bet： For most teenagers a Test century on debut remains a distant dream, butfor Mohammad Ashraful it was a dream come true
Charlie Austin08-Sep-2001For most teenagers a Test century on debut remains a distant dream, butfor Mohammad Ashraful it was a dream come true.”I had difficulty sleeping last night, as I dreamt about Lara’s 375 and mescoring a century,” he said afterwards.”I told my captain about what I had dreamt in the morning and he told me Icould make it come true, so I just decided to play positively.”Ashraful, who according to his passport celebrates his 17th birthday onSunday – though his birth date had been thought to be 7th July 1984 – became the youngest ever player to score a Test century, bettering Mushtaq Mohammad’s record set in 1961 when he had scored a century against India at the tender age of 17 years and 82 days.He did not play like a teenager, however, as he slammed the Sri Lankanbowlers all round the Sinhalese Sports Club. He went on to score 114 off 212balls hitting 16 fours.He played Sri Lanka’s spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan expertly, using hisfeet and driving over the top, pull-sweeping over mid-wicket, anddexterously late cutting whenever the ball was a fraction short.”I did not feel under any pressure out in the middle, in fact I felt reallycomfortable,” he claimed. “I have practiced against a bowler with aMuralitharan-like straighter ball back home and I had no trouble pickinghim.”Bangladesh still lost the game by a whooping innings a 137 runs, butBangladeshi captain Naimur Rahman was still chirpy after an astonishingthird day, in which his side his side had recovered from 81-4 to score 328,their second highest total in their five-Test history.”It was good for the team to comeback like they did here today as it provedthat we can perform,” Rahman said afterwards.”I always thought this was going to be his match, but Ashraful’s innings wasextraordinary – he played liked an experienced champion.””If he can go out there and do that then we all can,” he said. “His inningswill give the team a lot of confidence.””This game was a good experience as we are learning from our opponentseveryday,” he added.