The all-rounder Mahmudullah has revealed that he will be retiring from T20Is after the completion of the Bangladesh tour of India 2024.
The 38-year-old debuted in the format in 2007 against Kenya and continued to play for 17 years before announcing his retirement.
He has the third-longest career after Shakib Al Hasan and Sean Williams. Previously, he retired from Tests in 2021 but continued to feature in ODIs, being the leading run scorer for Bangladesh in the 2023 Men’s World Cup in India.
Mahmudllah has scored 2395 runs at a strike rate of 117.74 and 40 wickets in 139 T20Is he played.
“I am retiring from T20I cricket after the last game of this series. I was pre-decided before coming here,” Mahmudullah said.
“I had a chat with my family. I spoke to the coach [Chandika Hathurusinghe], captain [Najmul Hossain Shanto], chief selector [Gazi Ashraf Hossain] and the board president [Faruque Ahmed] as well.”
“I think it is the right time to move on from this format for me and the team. Especially with the World Cup coming up in less than two years. I will concentrate on the one-day game.”
The former captain Mahmudullah retires as the fourth most capped T20I player in history. He has played 139 matches, just behind Rohit Sharma and Ireland duo Paul Stirling and George Dockrell.
He is also Bangladesh’s second-highest run scorer in the format after Shakib Al Hasan. In 2016, Hathurusinghe had given him the role of finisher. He took up the challenge adding more aerial shots to his repertoire.
“Back in 2016, there was a T20 World Cup in India. Before that, we had a training camp in Khulna. I changed my batting approach from that camp,” Mahmudullah said.
“I had to bat at No. 6 or 7, so I decided to change my approach and style. It was the team’s finisher role. It was a very tricky place to bat. Not always you could finish the game.”
“People would usually highlight the ones you didn’t finish, rather than the ones you were there for. But it is part and parcel of this game.”
However, a BCB official said, “It’s not a break, he wants to bring an end to the T20I chapter. He is supposed to announce it in this series.”
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