Mahmudullah out, Najmul in

The national selectors overlooked veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad but picked up Najmul Hossain as a backup opener for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

Mahmudullah led the team in the last edition in UAE in 2021, where Bangladesh performed poorly and his individual performances have not been up to the mark. Finally, the selectors made it clear that the player who played maximum T20 Internationals for Bangladesh is no longer a part of their future plan. 

In a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, chief selector Minhazul Abedin and selector Habibul Bashar announced the squad for the T20 World Cup 2022. The same squad will also play in the tri-nation series in New Zealand which also includes Pakistan. 

About the omission of Mahmudullah, which could be done after the dismal T20 World Cup 2021, Minhazul said, “We have respect for Mahmudullah who has played well for the national team. Our T20 consultant has given us a one-year plan, which will take us in a different direction. We have gone with this plan.

“We haven’t been doing well in this format. We have also had to deal with plenty of injuries in the last six months. We have dropped Mahmudullah taking everyone’s opinion.”

This could see the end of Mahmudullah’s T20I career after he retired from Tests in July 2021. The all-rounder is now only under the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s central contract for T20 and ODI, as there is no T20I after the World Cup, the board might exclude him from the T20 contract as well.

Former captain and selector Habibul Bashar indicated that Mahmudullah can carry on his domestic endeavours but for international cricket, his time is up in T20s, “Time will tell. Until a player announces his retirement, he is always under consideration. It is nothing unusual.”

Minhazul added that it’s time to respect the contribution of senior cricketers and take a step forward.

“It is hard to deny their contributions. They have given long service to the nation. They took Bangladesh to a good position. You can’t compare them with anyone. But players need a bit of time at that highest level,” he said on Wednesday.

There have been some discussions about Mahmudullah’s fate for the World Cup and eventually, the BCB took the step which should have been taken immediately after the debacle in the 2021 T20 World Cup. But to rectify a mistake, the selectors might have done a greater mistake by picking up Najmul for the World Cup.

Najmul has been the apple of the eye of the selectors as he was tried and tested in all the formats but he is yet to prove his merit even after playing international cricket for almost five years. 

The left-hander had some glimpse of success in Tests where he scored two centuries and half-centuries, but in limited overs, his performance is below average. In ODIs, his strike rate is 61.16 after 13 innings with the highest score of 38. Najmul has played nine T20Is so far, three this year where his scores are 37, 19*, and 16. In all three matches against Zimbabwe, he batted at number four but the selectors are considering him as a backup opener.

“We have discussed and analysed a lot before reaching a decision on having Shanto (Najmul) as a backup opener. He has done relatively well in the BPL than others. He has scored a few hundreds. Everyone agreed on this decision too,” said the chief selector.