Ashraful- The youngest player to score a test ton

Just 63 days after celebrating his 17th birthday, Mohammad Ashraful was probably given the best gift of his cricketing career as he became the youngest player ever to score a test century, breaking a long-standing record held by Pakistan’s Mushtaq Ahmed ( 8th September 2001 during the Asian Test Championship match against Sri Lanka). In what was otherwise a terrible match for Bangladesh, Ashraful’s record is probably the only memory Bangladesh would cherish.

Batting first, Bangladesh were bowled out for a paltry 90. Sri Lanka batted big and gave them a mammoth 465 to avoid an innings defeat. Bangladesh was in deep trouble at 81 for 4 when young Ashraful walked in. It was his debut test and after failing in the first innings he made it big in the second by batting spectacularly. Though he couldn’t eventually prevent an innings and 137 run loss for Bangladesh, his batting bore testimony to his talent and could have changed Bangladesh’s fortunes.

The wonder boy, however, let his country down when he admitted that he was involved in spot-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League. The BCB reacted immediately and suspended him from all forms of cricket until ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit’s final report on the investigation.