When he last toured India with the Bangladesh ‘A’ team three years ago, he was not a star despite being the youngest Test centurion in history. But things will be different this time around for Mohammad Ashraful when he leads a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI to take part in the Duleep Trophy which began on Tuesday.While this will be Bangladesh’s first experience in an Indian first-class tournament, at 20, it is also a personal ‘‘high’’ for Ashraful to lead the team. ‘‘I was vice-captain at the under-13 and under-17 levels but never the captain. So it is very exciting for me now,’’ said Ashraful in a chat with The Indian Express on the first day of a training camp in Dhaka.Will this be a stepping stone to leading Bangladesh one day? ‘‘Yeh toh sab ka dil karta hai (everybody wants to do that). Even I would love it. But not now, maybe some 2-3 years later. For now. I just want to concentrate on my batting,’’ said Ashraful.Captaincy may not be on his mind right now, but the tour provide him with a chance to shoulder some responsbility. ‘‘The selectors have told me that the role will help me think about the team and play accordingly. It will act as a good chance to play some solid knocks.’’And the process seems to have already begun. The BCB XI captain regularly seeks out national skipper Habibul Bashar and former captains Khaled Mashud and Khaled Mahmud. ‘‘We basically discuss situations I could face and how I should deal with them,’’ he informed.A Steve Waugh-Stephen Fleming fan — he admires their leadership qualities — Ashraful wants to be as calm as they are at all time with a clear aim: to win. ‘‘First, we have two matches and if we win we go into the final. We are not thinking negative for the moment. I think we have a very good team for Duleep,’’ said Ashraful.There is merit in his statements as top five Bangladesh batsmen, barring Bashar and Mashud, are part of the side. ‘‘Aftab (Ahmed), Nafis (Iqbal), Rajin (Saleh) are all there, so it will be a good tour. We have a young side and we will learn a lot from the trip,’’ said Ashraful.What the tour will also give the team is to face varied attacks on different pitches. ‘‘Especially the chance to play spinners would be very interesting, because your level of first-class cricket is very good. If we do well it will be very good for Bangladesh cricket also, since these are exciting times for us!’’The team plays their first match against East Zone from February 22 and will be accompanied by coach Dav Whatmore.‘If not Azhar, Sachin would be great’Ask him to pick one Indian batsman he has not met and would love to. Ashraful’s quick answer is: Mohammed Azharuddin. ‘‘He played some wonderful innings and I have heard a lot about him. I know it will be difficult but I will try and meet him during the Duleep Trophy,’’ he said. But if that doesn’t materialise, Asharful would compensate it by meeing Sachin Tendulkar. The young batsman’s turnaround in the December 2004 India series is credited with the famous Tendulkar-Ashraful chat in Dhaka. ‘‘Who would not want to meet him, he is an institution. Not just me, the whole team will learn something from him,’’ said Ashraful.
