Bangladesh fans have one grouse of their skipper Mohammad Ashraful, his inconsistency. For a batsman as talented as Ashraful, an average of 23.88 in 48 Tests and 23.00 in 139 ODIs does not do justice to his talent.

His countrymen have seen him toy with the best of bowlers on his day, only to fall flat in the next game.

Their frustration about Ashraful's underachievement is understandable as he is the one they have pinned their hopes on to show Bangladesh cricket the way in international cricket.

For the Bangladesh skipper, the Indian Premier League is not just an avenue to make money.

He is joining Mumbai Indians with a greater goal in mind. His main aim is to use this opportunity to learn from his role model, Sachin Tendulkar, and return to his national team as a complete batsman.

He is hoping the Mumbai Indians skipper will provide him the advice, which will help him to mix his natural talent with consistency.

"Before the auction, when people asked me in Bangladesh which team I would prefer to play? I said, Mumbai Indians, because, I wanted to play with Tendulkar.

"Alongwith former Bangladesh skipper Aminul Islam, Tendulkar has been my role model. I am lucky that my dream is about to come true," Ashraful told MiD DAY before leaving for South Africa via Mumbai yesterday.

"My game has been up and down so far. I have lacked consistency. I want to talk to Tendulkar mainly about how to improve this aspect of my game," said Ashraful.