Although Bangladesh failed in the World Cup, Ujjwal Mahmudullah

Mahmudullah Riyad was under fire for not performing as per expectations, miss fielding, slow strike rate.

He was not supposed to be in the World Cup team! The team management had planned to go to India with a youth-oriented team. Mahmudullah Riyad’s chances in the World Cup were uncertain.

Mahmudullah Riyad, who has been kept ‘rested’ for several months, was taken in the Bangladesh squad at the last moment. Mahmudullah came to play the World Cup amid much discussion and criticism.

He is the one who has spread the most light for the country in this World Cup. Scored the most 328 runs in 8 matches.

This 37-year-old cricketer was nowhere in between. Before the World Cup, he was left out of the national team’s series in Ireland and Afghanistan and the Asia Cup.

What will you do? He was not included in the calculation. BCB, team management, coaches and selectors – Mahmudullah Riyad was not in anyone’s World Cup thoughts, goals and plans.

Leaving him out was to finalize the idea of ​​making the World Cup squad. Riyad was thought to be old, deficient in fitness. Decreased speed and agility. The force of the bat must have also decreased. Maybe you can’t get along with the youth.

Afif Hussain Dhrub and Shamim Patwari were therefore thought of as possible middle-order options, leaving Riyad behind; But as they continued to fail, finally the selectors were forced to take Riyad in the 15-man World Cup squad.

Basically, Riyad went to play the World Cup after being out of international cricket for quite some time. That means he was not even prepared before reaching a big stage like the World Cup if international match play is taken as a standard.

It was understood that the head coach and the selectors were not in good sight. And while playing the World Cup, he was also subjected to unprofessional behavior. Despite getting a place in the eleven in the first match, he was dropped in the next match against England. Finally got a chance to bat in the third match against New Zealand. Riyad was played as the No. 8 batsman in that match in Chennai.

However, despite going so low, his bat showed a strong desire to run. He played an indomitable innings of 41 runs from 49 balls with an indomitable drive to score against the Kiwi bowlers even at number 8. Shows, informs and explains – wherever I play, I have hunger for runs. i want to run I am also determined to match myself.

Due to this, Mahmudullah Riyad went down to number eight and took runs with the bowlers. Then get promotion from 7th to 6th gradually. Then he scored three sixes and 46 from 36 balls against India’s strong bowling, 111 from 111 balls with 4 sixes and 11 boundaries against South Africa, 20 against Netherlands, 56 from 70 balls against Pakistan, 22 against Sri Lanka and lastly 28 against Australia in the last match in Pune on Saturday. Riyad gave an aggressive innings of 32 runs with three sixes.

Most importantly, on the day he is played, Riyad plays well in every position and scores runs. In between, he dropped to number 6 against the Proteas and put everyone to shame by scoring a century.

That is not the end of Riyadh saga. In the end, veteran Riyad proved everyone wrong and became the top scorer among Bangladeshi batters in this World Cup. Was fairly consistent at bat. A total of 328 runs came from his bat in 7 innings of 8 matches with a century and a half century.

Not only for scoring runs, batting average (54.66) and hitting sixes (14), Riyad is the highest among Bangladeshi batsmen. Apart from young left-handed opener Tanjid Hasan Tamim (strike rate 95.39), Riyad also has a higher strike rate (91.62) than the rest of the batsmen. Liton Das (284) is second in runs after Riyad. Nazmul Hossain Shanto (222) is third. Then Mushfiqur Rahim (202) and Mehdi Hasan Miraj (201).

Shakib Al Hasan, who scored 606 runs in the previous World Cup, is a super flop this time. Captain Shakib’s collection of 184 runs in 7 matches. Besides, the two young willowy left-handed openers Tanjid Tamim (145 in 9 matches) and Tawhid Hridyo (164 in 7 matches) could not benefit.