Mahmudullah Riyad
Tigers to put onus on skill over power: Mahmudullah on eve of T20 WC
The latest edition of the ICC T20 World Cup is all set to commence from Sunday in Oman. On the first day of the event, Bangladesh will take on Scotland at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground Oman Cricket on Sunday at 8pm Dhaka time.
The match will be telecast in Bangladesh by Gtv, T Sports, and Btv while Rabbithole will telecast through YouTube.
Ahead of the first match, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad said they will focus more on skilled batting instead of power-hitting which is more popular in the shortest format of international cricket.
“We know we don’t have power-hitting batters like other teams do, but we are confident in our skilled hitting ability. We will focus more on this skill in the World Cup,” Mahmudullah told in the pre-event press conference on Saturday in Muscat.
Bangladesh lost both of their warm-up matches in the UAE against Sri Lanka and Ireland. The Tigers’ captain believes it won’t be doing anything to damage the confidence of the players. He also thinks that the underperforming Mushfiqur Rahim is only one good innings away from finding his old form back.
“Mushfiqur is a batter who has the ability to turn the contest our way at any moment,” Mahmudullah said. “As a cricketer, you can go through a bad patch at any moment, and at the same time, you can get out of at any moment. I believe Mushfiqur needs only a good match to get back to form. We are not bothered about him. He can do well tomorrow (Sunday).”
Read: T20 World Cup 2021: Bangladesh vs. Scotland Match Preview
Mahmudullah out of Bangladesh’s first warm-up match
Mahmudullah Riyad is not playing the first warm-up match of the Bangladesh national team ahead of the T20 World Cup which is set to begin on October 17 in Oman.
Bangladesh is set to take on Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, at Bangladesh time 8pm at Abu Dhabi.
Habibul Bashar, the selector of Bangladesh, said the T20 captain has been suffering from slight back pain for a couple of days. So as a precautionary step, he is not playing the first warm-up match.
“He won’t get enough time to rest during the tournament when we have match after match. So we are not taking any risk now. He will not play the warm-up match. We will give him a bit of time,” Bashar told the media.
Read: BAN vs. NZ Series 2021: Mahmudullah Becomes Bangladesh’s Most Successful T20I Captain
Mahmudullah, however, might take part in the second warm-up match against Ireland in Abu Dhabi.
While Mahmudulla is not playing the first warm-up match, Mustafizur Rahman might take part in it. The left-handed pacer joined the team after completing this IPL stint for Rajasthan Royals.
The Bangladesh team will return to Oman on October 15 before their first World Cup against Scotland. They will then face the hosts, Oman, and Papua New Guinea.
It is expected that the Tigers would end up as the champions of Group B. If they can successfully play in Round 1, they will meet India, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Afghanistan in Group 2 at the Super 12s round along with the runners up of Group A of Round 1.
Read: Mahmudullah's Best Test Innings For Bangladesh
BCB had announced the squad for the World Cup early last month. They had included Rubel Hossain and Aminul Islam as the standby players. But in a recent move, the team management excluded Aminul from the touring party but kept Rubel with the team.
Bangladesh also included six players in the squad who has no experience of playing in a World Cup, including U-19 World Cup-winning stars— Shoriful Islam and Shamim Hossain.
BAN vs. NZ Series 2021: Mahmudullah Becomes Bangladesh’s Most Successful T20I Captain
Bangladesh met Zimbabwe in their maiden Twenty20 International match on November 28, 2006, at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna. Bangladesh's inaugural T20I match was captained by Shahriar Nafees, and it was the only cricket format in which Bangladesh won their first match. Bangladesh have played 109 T20I matches since then, winning 40 and losing 67 of them. Bangladesh have had seven T20I captains so far, with Mahmudullah Riyad leading the way with 12 victories. How Mahmudullah Riyad becomes Bangladesh's most successful T20I captain in the ongoing 5-match bilateral BAN vs. NZ 2021 series is discussed in this article.
Bangladesh National Cricket Team's T20I Captaincy Record
Left-arm opener Shahriar Nafees led Bangladesh to victory in their maiden T20I match against Zimbabwe in 2006. Interestingly, he did not captain Bangladesh for the second time. Opener Liton Das has also captained Bangladesh for a single match.
Mahmudullah Riyad became the most successful T20I captain in history after winning the series opener against New Zealand on Wednesday (September 1). Mahmudullah Riyad has won 12 of his 24 matches as captain, giving him the highest winning percentage.
Read: Bangladesh-New Zealand T20 series: PM greets Tigers for going 2-0 up
Surprisingly, 9 of his 12 victories have come in the last 10 matches, which is an incredible number. It indicates that Mahmudullah has improved as a skipper and he has performed very well in the recent T20I series.
Seven players have captained Bangladesh in the Twenty20 format. Mashrafe Mortaza has led Bangladesh the most times (28), followed by Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mohammad Ashraful.
Bangladesh have been winning consistently since Mushfiqur Rahim took over as captain of the national team in 2011. Bangladesh have won eight games and lost fourteen under his leadership. Mushfiqur Rahim is Bangladesh's third-best captain in terms of victories and without a doubt one of the finest captains in the country's history.
Also read: Tigers do enough to see off Latham's Black Caps in 2nd T20I
Mohammad Ashraful was the captain of Bangladesh's T20 team from 2007 to 2009. Bangladesh only won two games out of 11 when he was captain.
Bangladesh won the fourth-most T20I matches (7) under Shakib Al Hasan's leadership. Shakib captained Bangladesh in 21 games, winning 33.33 percent of the time. When Shakib was in charge, though, Bangladesh lost 14 games.
From 2014 to 2017, Mashrafe Mortaza captained Bangladesh in the most number of matches. The Bangladesh national cricket team improved tremendously under his leadership. Bangladesh won ten games when he was captain. Mashrafe also suffered the most losses (17) while captaining the Bangladesh national team.
Read Afghanistan U-19 team's tour of Bangladesh on: BCB
Twenty20 International Captaincy Record for Bangladesh
Player
Match
Won
Loss
%
Mashrafe Mortaza
28
10
17
37.03%
Mahmudullah Riyad
24
12
12
50%
Mushfiqur Rahim
23
08
14
36.36%
Shakib Al Hasan
21
07
14
33.33%
Mohammad Ashraful
11
02
09
18.18%
Liton Das
01
0
0
0.00
Shahriar Nafees
01
01
0
100%
Read ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021: Five Potential Replacements of Tamim Iqbal
BAN vs. NZ T20 Series: As It Stands
Mahmudullah Riyad became Bangladesh cricket's most successful T20I skipper after winning the low-scoring opening match of the BAN vs. NZ 2021 series. He extended his lead by winning the second match on Friday, (September 3).
Bangladesh will seal the series with two games left if they win the third match. Therefore, the third match is crucial for New Zealand to stay firm in the series.
There was heavy criticism regarding the slow pitch that took place in the opening match. New Zealand only scored 60 runs, and Bangladesh had to play 15 overs to reach the target. Following the first match, BCB’s Operations Committee Akram Khan told the media that they will prepare a better wicket for the second match to ensure a run-fest.
Read BAN vs. NZ 2021: Bangladesh Clinch Their First T20I Win Against New Zealand
Thankfully, the curator did a good job, putting up a better pitch for the second encounter. Batting first, Bangladesh made 141 runs in the second match and successfully defended the total. Bangladesh won the match by four runs in a closely contested encounter. We can anticipate New Zealand to play even better cricket on a more competitive surface in the third match.
Verdict
The team has improved under Mahmudullah Riyad's leadership after analyzing Bangladesh's T20I captains' performances. Mahmudullah has a genuine chance to improve his statistics as a skipper in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand. Bangladesh are presently leading the series 2-0, with three more matches to be played. Bangladesh's main goal would be to win the series and then try to sweep New Zealand.
Mahmudullah's captaincy record will significantly improve if Bangladesh win the remaining matches in the BAN vs. NZ 2021 series. Bangladesh's players will gain confidence as a result of the series win ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in October.
Read Shakib admits pitch even 'tougher' than Australia series
Mahmudullah warns against overconfidence before NZ T20Is
Bangladesh T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad has advised his boys against being overconfident as they prepare to play the five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting on Wednesday.
He, however, said the Bangladesh players have the ability to beat the Blackcaps in this series.
The Tigers go into the series with their first-ever 4-1 series win against Australia, which surely is boosting the confidence of the Bangladesh T20I side.
“As I always say that the T20 is a format where you can count yourself the favourite,” Mahmudullah said. “But being overconfident might play a negative role in our mind. To get successful in this format, we have to have the spirit to play well. If we can ensure it, we may have a good chance (to win this series).”
Read: BAN vs. NZ 2021: Milestones Bangladesh Cricketers Can Achieve in the T20I Series
Bangladesh played a total of 10 matches against New Zealand in this format and failed to win any of them. Mahmudullah believes the team should continue on being hungry to win against New Zealand.
“We have played well against Zimbabwe, and we also played good cricket at home against Australia. We have to keep this hunger intact. It will surely bring positive results for us,” Mahmudullah added.
The squad that the New Zealand Cricket has sent to Bangladesh doesn’t have any member of their World Cup squad. Despite that, Mahmudullah said that it’s required to play disciplined cricket against New Zealand to beat them.
Bangladesh team management is sweating over deciding the opening stand. In the absence of Tamim Iqbal, the spot for the number one opener is quite open.
“Liton (Das) is outstanding, and Soumya (Sarkar) is also good. Along with them, (Mohammad) Naim is at the top ranking among us. We are not worried much about it. We just have to ensure that we can contribute to the team. Here is some positive competition in the team, and it will surely help us,” Mahmudullah further told in a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
Read: BAN vs. NZ: Bangladesh's Three Memorable Victories Against New Zealand
Bangladesh will split the keeping work in this series to Mushfiqur Rahim and Nurul Hasan Sohan, as the head coach Russell Domingo told the media.
According to him, Sohan will play the role of the wicketkeeper in the first two matches while Mushfiqur will do it in the next two matches, and the team management will decide who will be the keeper in the fifth match.
Tom Latham, the T20I captain of New Zealand, said the whole Bangladesh team is a big threat for them.
“They have threats all around their group. We saw how well they played against Australia. They have some great spinners and experience in the group. Our batting will be challenged by their spinners. They have some fearless batsmen, who take the game head-on,” Latham said in a virtual press meet also on Tuesday.
Former captains respect Mahmudullah’s retirement decision
Despite being a last-minute addition to the squad of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Mahmudullah Riyad proved his batsmanship once again. He returned an unbeaten 150 in the first innings of the Harare Test. It immediately created a hope that Mahmudullah would last in Tests for a longer period of time now. But Mahmudullah had another idea— after hitting career-best innings, he abruptly announced his retirement from the format that left many astonished.
But two former captains of the Bangladesh team— Aminul Islam Bulbul and Khaled Mashud Pilot, believe that it was Mahmudullah’s personal call and they respect it.
Read: Mahmudullah's Best Test Innings For Bangladesh
Mahmudullha has maintained a mysterious silence since he received a guard of honour ahead of the final day’s play in the Harare Test. He didn’t say a word about his retirement officially. The guard of honour came as the self-explanatory for his retirement.
“Mahmudullah was earlier told to focus on the white-ball cricket more by the team management. Despite being available, he was overlooked on a few occasions. He might have done it for it. But it was completely his own decision, and we have to respect him,” Aminul, who led Bangladesh in the inaugural Test, told UNB.
“Mahmudullah played in Harare as replacement of Tamim (Iqbal) or Mushfiqur (Rahim) as they are not fully fit. If they were fit, Mahmudullah might not have had the chance. However, what he did is his personal call. We have to respect it. And at the same time, it cannot be an example of the way of retiring from the national team. He informed his teammate when a match was underway. It would have been better if he told before the match or after it. But there is nothing about unprofessionalism. A player has the right to call his time whenever he wants,” Aminul added.
Mashud also echoed Aminul saying that it was Mahmudullah’s decision to call his time, and he has all the right to do so.
Read:Mahmudullah says “dramatic” goodbye to Test cricket, given guard of honour
“It’s his personal decision, and we have nothing to say about it. But we may ask why he has taken this decision this way. It is actually the board who should find out. I think there is a gap between the players and the board. Whatever the reason, it seems both the board and players lack respect for each other,” Mashud told UNB.
Mahmudullah's Best Test Innings For Bangladesh
Mahmudullah Riyad is an efficient batsman and one of the trustworthy cricketers when quick runs are required in the death overs. Riyad is regarded as a silent killer and a competent Test batsman as well. However, he was ignored by the selectors for the Test format after the Pakistan series in February 2020. Mahmudullah was recalled for a one-off Test against Zimbabwe. Bangladesh won the series thanks to his career-best 150 runs in the first innings. Meanwhile, Riyad has decided to retire from Test cricket following a superb innings against Zimbabwe. In this article, we have picked Mahmudullah's best Test innings for Bangladesh.
Mahmudullah’s Best Innings in Test Matches
5) Against New Zealand (1st Test, 2019)
Venue: Hamilton
Result: New Zealand won by an innings and 52 runs
Mahmudullah: 146 (2nd innings)
Mahmudullah Riyad produced a counter-attacking 146-run knock in the second innings on a bouncy track against a deadly New Zealand pace attack. When all of Bangladesh's batsmen failed to adapt to the Kiwis' blistering pace attack, Mahmudullah and Soumya came out strong and put up a 235-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Though Bangladesh lost the match by an innings and 52 runs.
READ: Mushfiqur to miss remainder of Zimbabwe series
4) Against West Indies (2nd Test, 2018)
Venue: Dhaka
Result: Bangladesh won by an innings and 184 runs
Mahmudullah: 136 (1st innings)
Bangladesh won by an innings and 184 runs, making the game a one-sided affair. Bangladesh scored 508 runs in the first innings, owing to a crucial 136-run innings by Mahmudullah Riyad. He was accompanied by Shakib and Liton on his way to hundred. Riyad produced a really great knock. Miraz was named man of the match after taking 12 wickets in the match.
Read BAN vs. ZIM Test Series 2021: Bangladesh Player Ratings
3) Against Zimbabwe (2nd Test, 2014)
Venue: Khulna
Result: Bangladesh won by 162 runs
Mahmudullah: 56 & 71
Mahmudullah played two solid innings in the 2014 bilateral Test series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. In particular, his 71-run knock in the second innings was important to the match's outcome. Bangladesh declared their second innings at 248/9d after gaining a 313-run lead. Bangladesh went onto win the match by 162 runs.
Read Mominul “not well-informed” about Mahmudullah’s retirement
2) Against Zimbabwe (2nd Test, 2018)
Venue: Dhaka
Result: Bangladesh won by 218 runs
Mahmudullah: 101* (2nd innings)
Zimbabwe scored 304 runs in their first innings in response to Bangladesh's mammoth 522-run total. Bangladesh required quick runs in the second innings to get a commanding lead. Mahmudullah rose to the occasion and played an aggressive 101*-run knock to set Zimbabwe a 443-run target. Zimbabwe ultimately crumbled and was defeated by 218 runs.
READ: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe 2021: ODI Series Preview
1) Against Zimbabwe (Only Test, 2021)
Venue: Harare
Result: Bangladesh won by 220 runs
Mahmudullah: 150* (1st innings)
Mahmudullah Riyad stunned everyone with a brilliant 150*-run knock in the first innings of the only Test against Zimbabwe after returning to Test cricket. He also recorded a 191-run partnership with pacer Taskin Ahmed on the ninth wicket. Bangladesh were all out for 468 runs in the first innings and were in an excellent position. Bangladesh won the match by 220 runs in the end.
READ: Mushfiq to play T20Is in Zimbabwe
Bottom Line
Mahmudullah Riyad showed once again that he is one of the most effective Test batsmen for Bangladesh after a magnificent performance against Zimbabwe in the last Test. Moreover, analyzing Mahmudullah's best Test innings for Bangladesh highlights his importance as a player for the Test setup. That's why his decision to retire from Test cricket is terrible news for Bangladesh cricket.
Mahmudullah says “dramatic” goodbye to Test cricket, given guard of honour
Bangladesh allrounder and T20 captain Mahmudullah Riyad was presented a guard of honour by his team mates as he bade an emotional farewell to Test cricket ahead of the fifth day’s play in the Harare Test against Zimbabwe.
The right-handed allrounder reportedly informed his teammates about his retirement ahead third day’s play of the match. He, however, didn’t say anything about it to the media.
Read:Bangladesh seven wickets away from a win in Harare
Before getting selected for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Mahmudullh was out of the longer version of the game for more than 17 months. He hit an unbeaten 150 in this comeback Test, which will now be his last Test innings.
A Bangladeshi media reported from Harare that Mahmudullah last night gave an impression that he is going to rethink this retirement. But he didn’t.
“He didn’t inform me anything officially about it,” Nazmul Hasan, the BCB president, told a national daily earlier. “I came to know from someone else. But it’s not acceptable to me. It’s unusual. We are playing a Test now. The match is yet to end.”
Nazmul also said that the decision of Mahmudullah surprised him more because the allrounder agreed to play in all formats for the Tigers what he has said to the board in the written consent.
“He was a last-minute inclusion to the Test side because he wrote to us that he would play Test if he gets a chance,” Nazmul added. “We asked every national team member to inform us in what formats they prefer to play, and Mahmudullah told us he is up for every format.”
Read:Shadman, Shanto hit centuries as Bangladesh secure 476-run lead
Taskin credits batting success to coach Cook
Bangladesh right-arm pacer Taskin Ahmed, who hit his maiden 50 in the first innings of the ongoing Harare Test against Zimbabwe, has credited his success to fielding coach Ryan Cook.
Bangladesh won the toss in Harare on Thursday and batted first to post a challenging first innings total of 468.
Mahmudullah Riyad, who returned to the Test team after more than 17 months, smashed 150 -- his highest in Test now. And Taskin accompanied Riyad on a 191-run ninth-wicket stand, the highest ninth-wicket stand for Bangladesh in Tests and the second-highest in the history of the game.
Also read: Tigers post 468 as Mahmudullah, Taskin share second-highest 9th-wicket partnership
Taskin said it was a great feeling to partner with Mahmudullah when the team needed him the most and lauded Ryan for nurturing the batting talent of tailenders.
"I wanted to do something for the team,” Taskin said in a video message. “Riyad was on the wicket. So as a tailender, I should have supported him well. I’m glad that I did it. My main goal was to save my stumps. Riyad kept telling me this. I also tried to play big shots when I got some deliveries at the right places.”
“If you look at the other teams, they have some reliable batsmen at the lower order. I always try to become a reliable batsman like them so that I can support recognised batsmen,” Taskin said.
Also read: Mahmudullah, Taskin help Tigers pass 400-run mark
Bangladesh lost two wickets within eight runs in Harare Test. Despite that, Mominul Haque, 70, Liton Das, 95, and Mahmudullah and Taskin did well to post a big total on the board.
“The wicket was very good to bat on, unlike the first session. Riyad kept telling me that the wicket would get better by the time going. When I came to bat we needed more runs on the board to offer a challenge to the hosts. So I tried to stay stuck on the wicket and score some runs,” he added.
Taskin also said that he had no knowledge about the world record of scoring most runs in ninth-wicket stand in Tests, which needed only five runs. And he praised Bangladesh’s fielding coach Ryan for inspiring him to bat more.
“Before coming to Zimbabwe, Ryan told me to buy batting spikes so that I can use them in this tour. I did what he has said to me, and it worked. I used those spikes while batting in this Test. I would like to thank him to push me relentlessly to bat more in the nests,” he added.
Mahmudullah added to Test squad for Zimbabwe tour
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made a change into the Test squad which will tour Zimbabwe later this month by including allrounder Mahmudullah Riyad to the squad.
BCB has previously announced a 17-member squad, and now it increased to 18- member.
READ: From U-19 star to national team prospect: The incredible journey of Shamim
Mahmudullah played his last Test during Bangladesh’s Pakistan tour last year. He was later omitted from the longer format of the game.
The right-handed allrounder played a total of 49 Tests to date and amassed 2764 runs with four centuries and 16 half-centuries. He also scalped 43 wickets with one five-wicket haul.
The Zimbabwe series will kick off with the one-off Test on July 7 while three ODIs will take place on July 16, 18 and 20 while the T20Is will be played on July 23, 25 and 27 respectively.
Test and ODIs will be started at 1:30 pm (Bangladesh time) while T20Is will be commenced at 4:30 pm (Bangladesh time).
READ: T20 WC shifted to UAE from India
All the matches of this series will be hosted at the Harare Sports Club.
Mahmudullah, Mominul guide Gazi home
Bangladesh T20 captain Mahmudullah Riyad and Test captain Mominul Haque hit 50s in their second game of the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 Cricket League Tuesday to guide Gazi Group Cricketers home against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.
Mahmudullah-led Gazi Group won the toss and sent Sheikh Jamal to bat first, who posted 151 for seven in 20 overs.
Also Read: DPL T20 2021: Shakib Al Hasan Shines in First Round
Shykat Ali and Mohammad Ashraful added 69 runs in the first wicket stand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. Shykat scored 33 while Ashraful posted 41 off 35 balls with four sixes.
Nasir Hossain and Ziaur Rahman also contributed well with the bat scoring 20 and 21 runs.
For Gazi Group, Mukidul Islam and Mahmudullah took two wickets each while Nasum Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar and Ariful Haque bagged one wicket each.
In reply, Gazi Group scored 156 for three in 18.5 overs to seal the game. Mominul and Mahmudullah added 97 runs in the third wicket stand which proved to be a match-winning stand for Gazi.
Mominul perished on 54 while Mahmudullah remained unbeaten for 62 off 51 balls.
In the first game of the day at the same venue, Prime DSC beat Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity by 19 runs. Losing the toss, Prime DSC batted first and posted 149 for six in 20 overs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Imran Uzzaman hit 40 off 17 balls with three fours and four sixes while Saif Hassan and Marshal Ayub scored 28 and 21. For Khelaghar, Khaled Ahmed and Masum Khan bagged two wickets each.
In reply, Khelaghar lost three wickets in 15 runs and could not recover from the early damage. Farhad Hossain and Rishad Hossain posted 33 and 37, but that was not enough for Khelaghar to avoid a defeat. For Prime DSC, Enamul Haque Jr, Rejaur Rahman Raja and Kamrul Islam took two wickets each.