Mahmudullah Riyad completes a decade in international cricket

This week marks the 10th anniversary of Mahmudullah in international cricket. The all-rounder made his ODI debut in July 2007 and did a decent job scoring 36 and returning with 2/28 against Sri Lanka. Since then, Mahmudullah has come a long way as far as his batting is concerned. He has a tight technique and a solid temperament which has helped him in soaring to great heights.

Mashrafe praises Mahmudullah’s mental strength

It is fair to say that Mahmudullah has played a significant role in the rise of Bangladesh cricket. ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza was pleased with Mahmudullah’s journey in international cricket. Bangladesh promoted him to bat at No. 4 and the right-hander responded by scoring two back to back hundreds in the ICC World Cup 2015 leading Bangladesh to a quarter final spot. Since then the 31-year old has been shuffled around in the middle order and is currently batting at No. 6 in the ODIs. Mashrafe pointed out that the resilience Mahmudullah has shown after being dropped stands out.

“I must give a lot of credit to him. Firstly because of his mental strength. Everyone feels bad after getting left out of the team. He also felt the same. But I never heard him complaining anyone else. Rather he kept toiling hard and made a comeback. That’s not an easy job,” said Mortaza to the Narail Express.

Mortaza also threw light on the batting positions of Mahmudullah which has been never stable during his career. The right-hander has always put his hand up for his side and has always been a team player.

“He also deserves credit for his batting. Every batsman has his favorite batting position, where he enjoys batting. But Mahmudullah’s batting position has never been permanent. He batted anywhere the team management asked him to. He started as a lower order batsman, and now he bats up the order as well. But I believe if he had a secure batting position, his average would be even better,” said Mashrafe.

Mahmudullah’s majestic knock against the Kiwis

Recently, Mahmudullah played one of the greatest innings in Bangladesh’s ODI history which sent the Kiwis packing home from the ICC Champions Trophy. He struck an unbeaten century to chase down 266 in a virtual semifinal at Cardiff. Bangladesh where down and out at 33 for 4 before Mahmudullah inducted life in the chase by playing counter attacking cricket. He was involved in a 224-run stand with Shakib, which is the highest partnership for Bangladesh in ODI cricket for any wicket. Mashrafe picked this knock as his favorite Mahmudullah innings.

“I think that century is his best. He may have some better innings, but this one was the most effective. Shakib also batted nicely, but it was Mahmudullah who first triggered the counterattack on the Kiwi bowlers.”

In 145 ODIs, Mahmudullah has scored 3155 runs at 34.67. He has 3 hundreds to his name along with 17 half centuries. The middle order batsman has also won 33 Test and 58 T20I caps for Bangladesh scoring 1809 and 810 runs respectively.