Bangladesh coach compares Mahmudullah with MS Dhoni

Mahmudullah during 2021 T20 World Cup (PC: Twitter)

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), on September 14, announced their 15-player squad for the T20I World Cup in Australia next month. One of the notable absentees from the expanded squad was senior all-rounder Mahmudullah.

Bangladesh coach and former Indian cricketer Sridharan Sriram said that replacing Mahmudullah was not easy, and even compared him with MS Dhoni.

Bangladesh squad for T20 World Cup 2022

Sriram praises out-of-favour Mahmudullah

During a press conference, Sriram praised Mahmudullah for his contributions to Bangladesh cricket and even compared him with India’s World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni.

However, the Bangladeshi coach added that it was time the team started searching for a replacement for the 36-year-old cricketer. He said:

“One should always look for successors. I have always compared Mahmudullah with Dhoni going by the way he has performed. He batted at No.6 just like Dhoni did for India. He also finished a lot of matches for Bangladesh. Dhoni couldn’t play forever, right?”.

The coach also admitted that dropping a player of Mahmudullah’s calibre was not an easy decision for the Bangladeshi selectors. Notably, the cricketer is the most capped T20I player for Bangladesh, having played 121 matches for his country since his debut in 2007.

The all-rounder played the last of those 121 matches during the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2022 in UAE. Bangladesh suffered an early exit from the tournament, courtesy of defeats to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in the Group Stages.

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