Mahmudullah protests against belittling, welcomes criticism

After defeating Papua New Guinea by 84 runs to seal a spot in the Super 12 stage, Bangladesh Twenty20 internationals skipper Mahmudullah Riyad said that they welcomed criticism but not belittling of players.

After Bangladesh were defeated by Scotland in their first match of the World Cup on Sunday, criticism flew in from every corner as the Tigers faced the fear of elimination.

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hasan even questioned the approach of the team after the defeat in Oman.

“I am not worried about winning or losing. Anything can happen in cricket, especially in T20Is. What I did not like was the approach of the team. We have to change our batting approach,” the BCB President said.

Mahmudullah, during the post-match press conference in Oman, said that players were humans, and they can make mistakes from time to time, but that doesn’t give anyone license to belittle them.

“We are humans. We make mistakes. But for that, you cannot belittle someone. I always say this, when we play, the whole nation plays. Everyone thinks of that in the back of their head. And I think nobody feels it more than us. If we don’t play well, there will definitely be criticism. But you cannot belittle someone for that. I felt very bad about everything we received from every side,” Mahmudullah said.

He added, “Everything touches us. We are all humans; we have families who watch us and are sad when we can’t win. We expect criticism when we don’t do well. Why shouldn’t it happen? But when someone is being belittled through that criticism, that feels bad.”

The T20I skipper then said that every player had to go through sacrifices to play for the national team.

“There are sacrifices from everyone. Some have pain, some injuries, we still play. We often play taking painkillers. So, our commitment should not be questioned. We take a lot of pride in wearing the national team jersey,” he said.

After losing the first match and struggling for some parts in the second, Bangladesh crushed Papua New Guinea to ensure qualification for the Super 12 stage.

Mahmudullah said they were trying to play their best for the last two matches and managed to do well on Thursday.

“Everyone was committed more than 100%. We were feeling like we weren’t playing our best cricket. We were eager to do that, and I believe today, we did that,” he said.

He also said that the win brought some relief, but harsh criticism would follow another bad match.

“There is obviously a relief. It feels good that the team did well. If we do bad in one match, there will be a lot of criticism again. There will always be ups and downs in this format. But I think that if the team is stable, we can get rid of that, and I believe the team is settled right now,” he said.

Bangladesh are still waiting for the results for the match between Oman and Scotland to find out which group they will in the Super 12, group 1 or group 2. Mahmudullah though is not thinking about that too much.

“We are not thinking about what teams we are going to face or where we will end up. We will see it when it comes around,” he said.

But he hoped for tackling the bigger challenges coming up in the next stage of the World Cup. Mahmudullah said, “I think this win will give us a bit of confidence going into the Super 12. Hopefully, we can tackle the challenges there well.”

Shakib Al Hasan, who put in another man of the match performance against Papua New Guinea with 46 runs and four wickets, said that with every win, the team was getting more confident.

“Every game we’re playing gets us into more confidence. Obviously, it was a setback, the first game, but in T20Is, the team that is better on the day wins. But now the pressure is off, and we can play expressively. It’s not an easy format to get back into form, but luckily I’m getting more chances to bat up the order,” the all-rounder said.