he was one of two Bangladeshi players in the 15-man squad. Ashraful played in two of the matches, but failed to score a run. The opening match of the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in February and March 2006 was played at Chittagong Divisional Stadium, the first international match the ground hosted. He scored 136 in the first innings, his third Test century; he received the man of the match award, although Sri Lanka won by eight wickets. Bangladesh lost the second Test by ten wickets and the series 2 0, with Ashraful managing 37 runs in the match and claiming the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene. The West Indies hosted the 2007 Cricket World Cup in March and April; Ashraful was included in the 15-man squad led by Habibul Bashar. Bangladesh made it to the second stage of the competition and finished seventh. Along the way the team caused an upset against India to help knock them out of the tournament. Ashraful scored 87 runs from 83 balls against South Africa in the course of Bangladesh's 67-run victory. His innings was the highest score by a Bangladesh player in World Cups and he was named man of the match for the performance. With 216 runs from 9 matches at an average of 36, Ashraful was Bangladesh's highest run-scorer in the tournament. Captaincy (2007–2009) Shortly after the World Cup, India toured Bangladesh for two Test matches and three ODIs. In the second Test, which Bangladesh lost by an innings and 239 runs, Ashraful scored the fastest half-century in Test cricket in terms of time (taking 27 minutes) and equal second-fastest when measured in balls faced (scored off 26 balls). Aside from the 67 he managed in one of the fastest half-centuries in Test cricket, Ashraful managed just five more runs in the series; in two ODIs, he scored 41 runs. After defeats in both series, Habibul Bashar stepped down as Bangladesh's one-day captain; Mohammad Ashraful was appointed the team captain in all forms of cricket on 2 June 2007. At the time, he had played 35 Test and 101 ODIs and had some experience of captaincy at domestic level. Aged 22, he was the second-youngest international captain at the time. Ashraful and Mortaza took on these roles from the start of the Sri Lanka tour in June 2007. Coach Dav Whatmore had declined to extend his contract and Shaun Williams took