Bangladesh dropped Mahmudullah along with six other players from the T20 World Cup squad

Bangladesh announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be played in Australia, Mahmudullah could not find a place in the squad, and also six other members dropped out of the squad which had recently featured in the Asia Cup in UAE.

Bangladesh announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be played in Australia. The all-rounder Mahmudullah could not find a place in the squad and also six other members dropped out of the squad which had recently featured in the Asia Cup in UAE.

“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,”

said Chief selector Minhajul Abedin. 

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

Sridharan Sriram, Bangladesh T20’s technical consultant, said:

“I think our cricket team needs to have a succession plan. I have always equated Mahmudullah with MS Dhoni with the role that he performs for the team. He batted at No 6 just like Dhoni has done for India. He has finished off games. Dhoni cannot go on forever and ever, right?

“You need to have a succession plan for who after( Mahmudullah). I think this was the right time to think of someone who can fill in Mahmudullah’s big shoes. Unless we start playing players in that role, we won’t find them,”

Sriram further said.

“It is never an easy conversation. He is the most capped T20 player in Bangladesh. I have the utmost respect for him. I have to be the bad man to have the conversation. I think it went well,”

he said.

Aside from Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, who recently announced his retirement from T20Is, Anamul Haque, Mohammad Naim, Parvez Hossain, and Mahedi Hasan have also been dropped, making way for the inclusions of Nazmul Hossain, Liton Das, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, and Hasan Mahmud.

“We have discussed and analyzed a lot, before deciding on having Shanto as a backup opener,”

Bashar explained.

“He has done relatively well in the BPL than other local players. He has scored a few hundred. Everyone agreed on this decision too.”

Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, and Soumya Sarkar have been named as traveling reserves.

“I was consulted with every move, every decision (about selecting the squad) and I was very happy that my opinion has been valued,”

Sriram, the former Indian all-rounder, said.

”This will be an eye opener for all of you guys. What I am looking for is impact, not performance. Bangladesh will win if seven or eight players make an impact.

“We want to win critical moments in the game. Bangladesh has lost a lot of close T20 games. The overall results would have looked a lot better had we won half of these games. Why are we losing close games is something I am keen to understand. We need to have critical moment awareness. If we win small moments, overall we can string those results together. Chances are, we will win close games.

“It could be skills, execution or it could be mental as well. What is he thinking in those situations? These conversations are ongoing with the leadership group of the team. We do one-on-one and also small groups too.”

Squad: Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Afif Hossain, Mossadek Hossain, Liton Das, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain, Nasum Ahmed