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Having performed various roles with the national side over the years, Abahani coach and BCB director Khaled Mahmud has seen a change of seasons, changes in thoughts, colours and perceptions in and around the national team more than most.
However, he felt it was not curious that Mahmudullah Riyad was out of national-team contention with it being a World Cup year, fueling the media’s speculation about whether the end of Riyad’s international career had arrived.
Mahmudullah has not exactly shined with his performances in this year’s Dhaka Premier League, scoring 284 runs at an average of 28.40 and a strike-rate of 88.47 in 11 outings for Mohammedan.
“I am not in the national set-up, so I don’t know about the planning. Of course, Riyad is a very important player and has been witness to many performances and won many matches. But honestly, though I am not involved with the team, personally I don’t see him in the World Cup team at the moment. Because if he was, he would have featured in recent series. There are not many days left until the World Cup,” Mahmud said yesterday.
BCB president Nazmul Hassan had said after the England series that some players were to be ‘rested’ so new players could be tried in a bid to increase the pool of talent for the World Cup.
Towhid Hridoy and Rony Talukdar came in to the side along with Yasir Ali, with Rony replacing the injured Zakir Hasan. Unable to get a game, Afif Hossain too faced the drop in the Ireland series.
There have been key performances especially from Hridoy and Mushfiqur Rahim, who found a new lease of life batting at number six.
Overall, we have to understand how much the team requires him [Mahmudullah Riyad] under the current circumstances or if his replacements are performing. If the team is satisfied [right now], Riyad will have less of an opportunity.
— Khaled Mahmud Sujon Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director on Mahmudullah Riyad’s chances of earning his place back into the side.
For a major chunk of his career, Riyad had to perform the role of a finisher. If the team management was looking for options in that role, they are finding them.
Riyad’s approach, despite crucial knocks, did not impress due to the lack of consistency in terms of the approach the team required. Mahmud spoke of Riyad being able to fare well in the DPL’s Super League stage, but more importantly, pondered whether the national team needed his services.
“Riyad batted at an important position, where you can become hero or zero. He got a taste of both. There have been matches where he single-handedly won Bangladesh the game. Overall, we have to understand how much the team requires him under current circumstances and whether his replacements are performing. If the team is satisfied, Riyad will have less of an opportunity.
“But if that doesn’t happen, we all believe he is an experienced cricketer who, if backed, can perform. There is still time and it’s not like Riyad is completely out,” he opined.
He opined that it would be a mistake to suddenly call Riyad up before the World Cup, saying that if he was in the team’s plans then the idea should have been to give him matches.
It has been communicated to Afif what is required of him for him to get into the team, but was the same done for Riyad? Mahmud does not know, but believed that players deserve a healthy exit and that if it had been explained to Riyad, the player would understand.
