Always tried to get "best friend" Ashraful out: Mashrafe

In the final episode of Tamim Iqbal's Facebook live show, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza revealed who his ultimate nemesis was on the cricket field. And it was none other than Bangladesh's very own Mohammad Ashraful. 

Asked about the topic, Mashrafe went down the memory lane, " The matter of Ashraful...I think you're talking about my peak time...Ashraful's peak time. At that time, there was a lot of advantage if Ashraful could be dismissed. He was my best friend at the time as well."

"When he came out to bat, my instincts used to work automatically on how to bowl fast, how to control the accuracy, how to get him out. As a result, a mental game was created with him. He got out many times but scored a lot of runs off me too. It was a good fight. We used to fight on a different level."

Ashraful and Mashrafe had their careers similarly etched with both making their debut in 2001 and soon finding themselves on the lights of global stardom. The two-faced each other off in various domestic tournaments including Dhaka Premier League and 4-day domestic cricket. 

Having considered as the future legends of Bangladesh cricket, both of their careers couldn't live up to the potential and even though Mashrafe fought back through several injuries to become arguably the greatest ever captain of Bangladesh, Ashraful was involved in a fixing fiasco and passed his primetime of playing career by serving bans.

However, both of these cricketers are still fondly appreciated and honored by the passionate fans for their glorious contributions in Bangladesh's baby-step days.