Bangladesh duo Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim ahead of Virat Kohli in 2018

When Chandika Hathurusingha was serving as head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team earlier last year, Mahmudullah’s spot in the squad was uncertain. The right-hand batsman even missed Bangladesh’s historic 100th Test match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He was also on the verge of missing the 2017 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy until the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president intervened in the nick of time.

Today, with another 70 odd days left in the current year, Mahmudullah has played the most number of matches for Bangladesh in 2018. So far the middle-order batsman has played 31 international matches for the Tigers. He stands marginally ahead of his teammate and wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim, who has played 30 matches in 2018. Both Bangladesh cricketers, therefore, feature in the list of top 10 cricketers to have played the most number of international matches in the current year.

The list is jointly headed by two English cricketers Johny Bairstow and Jos Buttler. The duo has played 34 matches in 2018 so far, and are scheduled to play a series against Sri Lanka in October/November. The third and fourth places also belong to two English players, Adil Rashid and Joe Root, who’ve played 33 matches each.

Dhawan lone Indian in the list

Surprisingly there is no place for two of India’s leading batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The Indian skipper had been rested for a couple of limited-overs tournaments, which is the reason why he hasn’t made the cut. Meanwhile, Rohit missed out because he doesn’t feature in India’s Test team. Nevertheless, India are represented in this list by Shikhar Dhawan, who currently stands at fifth place.

Dhawan has played the most number of matches for India this year – 32. He shares the spot with Pakistani captain Sarfraz Ahmed. With 31 matches, Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah is at number seven, while a total of 30 matches places Mushfiqur Rahim at number nine. Kohli, on the other hand, has so far played only 25 matches in 2018.

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