The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has no immediate thinking about Mohammad Ashraful’s probable inclusion in the national team after the conclusion of his international suspension.

BCB selection panel chairman Minhajul Abedin Nannu came up with the comment just few hours after Ashraful told local media from London that he still eyes to stage a comeback to the national side.

 “We need to see him (Ashraful) play across all formats and then decide for what format he will be eligible for international cricket. But at this moment, we are not thinking about his immediate inclusion in the national team. He has to come through a process of playing the upcoming domestic cricket season (that will be started with National Cricket League (NCL on October),” said Minhajul Abedin Nannu.

“We follow high standards of fitness for the national team, along with high performance (HP) and Bangladesh ‘A’ Team. To attain that level of fitness he needs to be given some more times and only if he achieves it, we can then think about him,” Nannu told media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur yesterday.

“But as of now, we are not thinking about him anywhere,” he added.

The BCB selection panel chairman said that they could get to know the actual state of his game after at least a year.

“He has not been in international cricket for a longer period. So he has to play across the formats in domestic circuit. Along with that, he will have to prove his fitness ‘needed for international cricket’ that is very important,” the panel chairman said.

“His suspension will be lifted and he will get to play all the formats. May be after a year we will get to know his state,” he concluded.

When asked about Ashraful’s age will be any barrier for him in his possible comeback to the national fold, Nannu defies it and said that when a player performs having fitness in the ground he is always eligible for the selection of international games.    

“Age is never a factor if one performs in the field. A player having fitness to perform in international level is always eligible for selection,” former captain said.

“But with Ashraful, he has a big gap to cover and also his age is a factor at this point. As he has played enough good cricket for our country, so he has the ability to play well again.” he also said.

“But we cannot comment of his selection at this point. He has to prove himself in domestic first,” he added.

Ashraful was given a five-year suspension from national and international cricket for his involvement in match and spot-fixing in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) second edition, the period which officially gets over on August 13 (today).

A special anti-corruption tribunal, set by the BCB in the light of ICC’s guideline, initially imposed an eight-year bar over Mohammad Ashraful for his direct involvement in fixing scam in July 2014.

Later a one-member appeal panel had reduced his suspension period to five years with the last two years to be reprieved upon producing a certificate of good conduct from the ICC through participation in the anti-corruption, education and training program, the period will come to an end on August 13.