Bangladesh middle-order batsman Mahmudullah Riyad left his teammates shocked on Saturday when he told them of his decision to retire from Test cricket. That, despite having just made a superb comeback to the side with an unbeaten score of 150 against Zimbabwe in Harare.
A report in ESPNcricinfo mentioned that Mahmudullah made his announcement to other Bangladesh players after the third day’s play at the Harare Sports Club ground.
Interestingly, Mahmudullah didn’t reveal his plan to retire when he spoke to the media after his magnificent century or made official statements through his social media accounts. But the communications from the dressing room in this regard haven’t gone down well with BCB president Nazmul Hassan.
Speaking to Bengali daily Prothom Alo, Hassan was quoted saying it’s “unusual” and “unacceptable” on behalf of Mahmudullah to take such a call in the middle of a Test match. Hassan thinks the batsman has taken his call purely based on “emotion” and can negatively influence the side.
Hassan’s disappointment over Mahmudullah’s decision comes from the fact that it shows a genuine lack of communication among the BCB and the player. Mahmudullah, dropped from Bangladesh’s Test side early last year, wasn’t originally part of the plans for the standalone fixture against Zimbabwe but was handed a last-minute re-entry since Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim were visitors’ injury concerns.
“Four or five days before they left for Zimbabwe, we asked all the players to inform us which formats they want to play. Riyad wrote that he wants to play all three formats. Regarding Tests he wrote that he wants to play in the format if given the opportunity, which is why we picked him.”
Hassan said.
The century in Harare was Mahmudullah’s 5th in Test format from 50 appearances. It came when Bangladesh were struggling in the game at 270/8 as the tourists eventually reached a score of 468. However, despite such a fruitful end, Mahmudullah ends with poor numbers next to his name in Test cricket. He averaged 33.11 from his 94 innings in the format.
