Ashraful Named Batting Coach as Bangladesh Enter Asia Cup Rising Stars in Qatar

Bangladesh Cricket Board has appointed former captain Mohammad Ashraful as the batting coach of the emerging (Bangladesh A) side for the 50-over ACC 'Asia Cup Rising Stars' tournament in Qatar, running from 19 to 29 November. The appointment comes after his removal from national-team duties and is being framed by the board as part of a push to build a 'strong team'. The tournament is an eight-team, two-group event with the top two from each group advancing to the semifinals; Group A contains Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A and Hong Kong, while Group B features India A, Pakistan A, Nepal and UAE. Bangladesh open against Hong Kong, and will likely need at least one win against Sri Lanka A or Afghanistan A to control their semifinal fate. The venue is neutral, stripping the subcontinental sides of home spin advantage, and evening dew could favour chaseers. With six group match-days, semifinals on 26-27 November and the final on 29 November, bowling rotation will matter. The report analyses the appointment, Ashraful's playing profile and the absence of any disclosed coaching record, the squad-selection uncertainty, the logistics of a Gulf neutral venue, the governance and integrity optics of appointing a previously sanctioned former international to a youth-facing role, and the gap between the board's 'strong team' rhetoric and the difficulty of Group A.