![Mohammad Ashraful and Shadman Islam [Source: x]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1793196778145_Bangladesh.jpg?type=hq)
Mohammad Ashraful and Shadman Islam [Source: x]
Shadman Islam struck an elegant 99* against West Indies on Day 1 of Bangladesh’s series-opening first home Test in Mirpur on October 28. Notching up his tenth Test fifty, the 31-year-old nearly converted it into his third Test ton before umpires called for an early stumps.
Needless to say, the opening batter earned much admirations from Bangladesh’s interim assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin. The coach also credited former batting coach Mohammad Ashraful for the opener’s newfound success.
Shadman Islam earns admiration from interim coach
While speaking with the reporters after the close of play on Day 1, Bangladesh interim assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin praised Shadman Islam for his splendid 99* against a disciplined West Indies bowling attack.
Salahuddin said that Shadman assessed the conditions well and refrained himself from playing risky shots in the middle. He added that Shadman Islam is playing such a quality innings after a long time considering the opening batter has not been able to convert his notable knocks into centuries as often as he would have liked.
Mohammad Salahuddin said “I would say he assessed the wicket very well and if you look at the whole innings he did not play too many risky shots. I have seen an innings like this from him after a long time because he had 50-60 in many innings but it was not getting long and so I think he may have worked on that too and that is why the innings may have been long and I hope he can make it longer.”
Mohammad Salahuddin credits batting coach Ashraful
Salahuddin also credited former Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful for helping Shadman Islam transform himself during his days as team’s batting coach.
He said “Ashraful did a lot of work in the past, we didn't get much time and here we don't have much to change. So I think the whole credit goes to Ash.”
It is worth noting that Mohammad Ashraful was recently axed as Bangladesh’s batting coach by the BCB. While the board did not unveil any particular reason behind the axing, one can assume that the team’s recent underwhelming performance played a huge part in that decision.
For starters, during Ashraful’s tenure since November 2025, the Bangladesh cricket team recently failed to reach the final of the UAE 2026 ODI tri-series against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe earlier this month.
Bangladesh also failed to win a medal at the 2026 Men’s T20 Asian Games in Nisshin, Japan last month.
Bangladesh’s Test game, however, has witnessed a significant improvement over the last few months. Having secured Test series wins over Ireland and Pakistan and levelling a series in Australia, the prolific batting of Shadman Islam against the West Indies once again proved why Mohammad Ashraful’s tenure was a successful one in the most important aspect of the game.
