Pressure mounting on Mahmudullah

Current Bangladesh Twnety20 International skipper Mahmudullah Riyad has come under scrutiny relating to his captaincy methods and of course his performances with the bat.

Bangladesh’s recent outings in the shortest format of the game have not been palatable to the fans and experts alike but what makes things worse is their inability to produce or even imitate a specific brand of cricket in T20Is.

And at the centre stage, skipper Mahmudullah has continuously failed to deliver on his promise of positive, and fearless cricket.

To add to his misery, his batting form has seen a downward dip, be it his inability to rotate the strike, unimpressive strike rates, and the most familiar trait of Bangladeshi batters in the shortest format-plummeting under the pressure of rising run rates.

Once labelled as a crisis man, who could pull his team out of crunch situations, Mahmudullah seems to have lost that touch and that mental edge that allowed him to absorb pressure.

In addition to that, his growing age has put a few strings on him as he has struggled to maintain his fitness in recent years. Many have criticised his bookish captaincy, predominantly sticking to specific match-ups even in unfavourable situations.

Despite all this, there seems to be no traction of him setting himself aside for T20s.

On Sunday, the Tigers lost their second T20I by 35 runs in the three-match series against the West Indies in Dominica. This was Mahmudullah’s 25th loss as captain of Bangladesh.

In this modern age of specialised cricket, it is often difficult for a Bangladeshi player to turn a match on his own. Bangladesh, traditionally, have fared well when they have performed as a team, with multiple out-and-out performances that have taken them over the line.

Mahmudullah emphasized that aspect of their game and admitted that they have not been able to do that.

“We are focused to win the game. The sort of team that we are, we have to perform well as a team in T20s. We have to fill up the small roles. It is our strength. You would have noticed that we get a boost out of playing well as a team in the first game of a series. But we have been struggling in that aspect recently,” he said after the match.

In his reign so far, he has led the side in 42 matches, winning just 16, and ended up on the losing side on 25 occasions, with one match being washed out.

During his tenure as captain, he has scored 760 runs at an average of 23.03, with a strike rate of 112.75.

Former Bangladesh Test skipper Mominul Haque stepped down as captain in June after failing to bring results for his team. But the tipping point was certainly his poor run form with the bat that applied the mountainous
pressure.

England’s World Cup-winning captain, Eoin Morgan, announced his retirement last month following his struggles with the bat. 

With the T20I World Cup in Australia looming large, a change in captaincy perhaps seems unlikely but there is certainly enough baggage to push for a change.

Though he has been able to commit giant-killing by winning series against Australia and New Zealand at home, continuity has been missing.

Mahmudullah’s batting form has been one of the main points of concern as he has not been coming up with impactful showings with the bat.

The right-handed batter managed to accumulate 131 runs in his last 10 innings at an average of 14.56, striking it at 91.60.

At the eclipse of his career at 36 years of age, the pressure of performing at a top level certainly takes a toll on many.

The right-handed batsman retired from Tests in November of last year and with all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan’s appointment as Test skipper, many argued that the ace all-rounder would be a better fit to lead the T20 side.

With Mahmudullah, it seems to be going that way as he has seemed to have left his best in the years gone by.

He can either step away as a hero or linger long enough in T20Is to see himself become a villain.