As per the latest developments, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) would be having a word with their T20I skipper Mahmudullah Riyad before picking a skipper for this year’s T20 World Cup that is scheduled to be played in October-November this year. Apparently, the current BCB president Nazmul Hasan has decided to sit down with the under-performing Mahmudullah to have a word regarding his future which also includes his availability for the showpiece event in global T20 cricket.
Riyad’s last T20I half-century came against the rookies Papua New Guinea (PNG) during the last edition of the T20 World Cup in the UAE. ”It is difficult to speak today about who will be our captain (in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup). I think it will take a month to take a decision. Let the captain come and we will have to sit with him,” Nazmul said. ”Certainly (under-performing captain is a concern) but let him come (and let us sit) but I don’t think there will be massive change if we replace the captain,” he said.
”This is a tough question (whether we are happy or not with Mahmudullah’s captaincy). We were not unhappy with the captaincy of Mominul. The name of Mahmudullah is coming up so much because he is not scoring runs and if he score runs everything will be fine,” he added. Mahmudullah Riyad has not scored a single half-century in the last 13 innings in the shortest format with his best score of 22 coming against the West Indies recently. In fact, out of the last 13 T20Is, Bangladesh have won only one match under Riyad’s captaincy. In terms of overall results, Bangladesh have just managed 16 victories under his leadership out of 43 games including 26 defeats. These underwhelming performances have definitely put the BCB in a state of panic heading into the T20 World Cup.
