Former captains respect Mahmudullah’s retirement decision
Despite being a last-minute addition to the squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Mahmudullah Riyad proved his worth once again. He returned with an unbeaten 150 in the first innings of the Harare Test.
It immediately created a hope that Mahmudullah would last in Tests for a longer period of time now. But Mahmudullah had another idea— after hitting career-best innings, he abruptly announced his retirement from the format that left many astonished.
Despite being a last-minute addition to the squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, Mahmudullah Riyad proved his worth once again. He returned with an unbeaten 150 in the first innings of the Harare Test
Mahmudullha has maintained a mysterious silence since he received a guard of honour ahead of the final day’s play in the Harare Test. He didn’t say a word about his retirement officially. The guard of honour came as the self-explanatory for his retirement.
“Mahmudullah was earlier told to focus on the white-ball cricket more by the team management. Despite being available, he was overlooked on a few occasions. He might have done it for it. But it was completely his own decision, and we have to respect him,” Aminul, who led Bangladesh in the inaugural Test, said.
“Mahmudullah played in Harare as a replacement of Tamim (Iqbal) or Mushfiqur (Rahim) as they were not fully fit. If they were fit, Mahmudullah might not have had the chance. However, what he did is his personal call. We have to respect it.”
“And at the same time, it cannot be an example of the way of retiring from the national team. He informed his teammate when a match was underway. It would have been better if he told before the match or after it. But there is nothing about unprofessionalism. A player has the right to call his time whenever he wants,” Aminul added.
Mashud also reiterated Aminul’s words that it was Mahmudullah’s decision to call his time, and he has all the rights to do so.
“It’s his personal decision, and we have nothing to say about it. But we may ask why he has taken this decision this way. It is actually the board who should find out. I think there is a gap between the players and the board. Whatever the reason, it seems both the board and players lack respect for each other,” Mashud said.
After coming to know about Mahmudllah’s retirement, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hasan said it came as a surprise to him. He said that Mahmudullah had given a written consent to the board stating that he is up for playing any format of cricket for Bangladesh.
When asked, was it right for Mahmudullah to call his retirement after it, Aminul said, “Whether he could play for a few more days was up to him. The team failed to do well against the West Indies, but they didn’t call up Mahmudullah. Now, he was called when the team needed. He might not be called again in future.”
Mashud believes that a player should not continue to play if he doesn’t enjoy the game anymore. To him, it’s better to retire than playing without getting satisfied.
“I wish Mahmudullah to do better in the other formats,” Mashud said. “I think a particular player knows if he is fit to play or not. If someone doesn’t enjoy playing, he should say goodbye.”
Mahmudullah got his Test cap back in 2009 against West Indies. In the first Test of his career at Kingston, Mahmudullah bagged eight wickets with a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
Including the one-off Test against Zimbabwe which Bangladesh won by 220 runs, Mahmudullah played a total of 50 Tests for the Tigers and scored 1,949 runs. He has 5 Test centuries under his belt. The all-rounder also has played for the tigers in 197 ODIs and 89 T20Is and scored 4410 and 1507 runs along with taking 76 and 31 wickets respectively.