Mahmudullah Riyad was noticeably absent from the first formal camp for the Afghanistan series, which was attended by players participating in both the red-ball and the white-ball variants of the game.
The likes of Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Towhid Hridoy were present, and if the photo to the right is any indication, they will be the ones guiding a younger batch for the next quests, the most significant of which will be the World Cup.
The management of the club had compiled an initial roster of up to 26 players, but Mahmudullah had already requested time off to conduct Hajj. Reporters were informed by the manager of the team, Nafees Iqbal, that Mahmudullah was not present at the camp yesterday. When asked if Mahmudullah was there, Nafees responded, “No, otherwise you would have seen him,” to the questions posed by the media.
Jalal Yunus, the head of cricket operations, revealed to the media yesterday that Mahmudullah has requested a holiday from the 22nd of June till the 5th of July. Jalal told the others, “He will join the camp after Hajj,” and they believed him. Given the current state of affairs, the likelihood of it happening is low.
On July 1, Afghanistan will touch down in the United Kingdom for the second leg of their two-part trip, which will consist of playing in the ODI and T20 series.
Mahmudullah will not be able to attend the preparatory camp for the sole format in which he is still available, which is the 50-over format, because the one-day international series starts on July 5. Therefore, it appears that the veteran will not be participating in the next one-day international series against Afghanistan, even before the team has been announced.
There is a possibility that the cricket player was given prior notice of his opportunities. “In light of the fact that he will be doing Hajj, he had submitted his vacation request in advance. You should start making preparations for the Hajj as soon as possible, as you already know.
Because the schedule had been established so far in advance, there is no way that he could possibly be unaware of the next series. Yesterday, a source close to the administration of the squad told The Daily Star that his request had been approved. “His application has been granted.”
In spite of the fact that team management sources frequently highlight the ‘experience’ working in Mahmudullah’s favor, he was dropped for the most recent few series, which has already established a tone.
Hridoy and others like him have responded well to the team’s push for a more offensively focused strategy. Mushfiqur Rahim has been a revelation at number six, a position that he has played at before in his career. Afif Hossain, Yasir Ali, and Mosaddek Hossain are all in the plans of the management team for the squad, while Mushfiqur Rahim is also in the plans.
At the age of 37, Mahmudullah has not shown the same level of instinct in his most recent knocks as he did in his peak. Although he had scored several crucial innings against India and England, he was removed from the team after the England series because the focus that the team management has placed on the needed attitude in one-day internationals has overridden the requirement for the experience aspect.
The contributions he made in terms of fielding and his usage as a bowler have also come under scrutiny, and they did not put him in a favorable position to succeed.
Given that the camp has begun on an official basis, it would appear that Mahmudullah’s international career has come to an end, barring any unanticipated occurrences in squad selection, which is still rather common in Bangladesh cricket. However, there is still a chance that something unexpected may occur.
Once the members of the Test squad have been selected, separate training sessions will be held for the white-ball and red-ball variants of the game. in the moment, Nic Pothas is acting as the training session’s supervisor in Mirpur, and he will continue to do so up to the arrival of Chandika Hathurusingha on June 3.
In each of the forms, Bangladesh has been working toward playing at a higher gear, and the younger squads are currently making up a significant portion of the core of the national team. It would imply that with Chandika at the helm, more responsibility will be placed on younger players, and there will be a greater emphasis placed on strategy.