It was on the back of a strong BPL campaign in 2017 that Ariful Haque broke into Bangladesh's limited-overs sides the following year. The allrounder hails from Rangpur, the country's northernmost region, and is viewed as a big-hitting lower middle-order batsman.

Ariful came into prominence in the 2006-07 National Cricket League when he struck his maiden first-class century in his first year in the competition. But thereafter he spent several lean seasons, scoring his second century only nine years later. The same season, he also went on to get 478 runs in the Dhaka Premier League, in addition to 446 for Rangpur in the NCL.

His batting improved in the following four seasons, culminating in a short stint with Khulna Titans in the 2017 BPL. He made only 237 runs in 12 games but it had an impact on his team's progression into the last four.

He was first called up to the Bangladesh T20I side in February 2018 and later found a place in the Asia Cup 2018 squad following Sabbir Rahman's suspension.