Mahmudullah Riyad may not have been the most naturally gifted cricketer of his generation, but he was certainly among those with the best work ethic. The right-handed allrounder, who turns 39 in February, announced his retirement from T20Is on Tuesday. He confirmed that the final match of the ongoing Bangladesh-India series would be his last in the format. He, however, will continue to be available for selection in ODIs. Mahmudullah earned the title of “finisher” in limited-overs cricket for his ability to score quick runs and hit big boundaries in the lower order towards the end of the team's innings. His departure leaves a gap that will not be easy for Bangladesh to fill. At his retirement announcement, Mahmudullah said it was the right time to step down. Cricket analysts seem to agree. Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, veteran cricket coach and a director of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), told UNB that fans should respect Mahmudullah’s decision. “We have to thank Mahmudullah for his contributions to Bangladesh cricket,” Nazmul Abedeen said. “He did a lot for where Bangladesh cricket stands today. He has performed well, considering the era he played in.” Mohammad Isam, a cricket analyst and Bangladesh correspondent for ESPNcricinfo, echoed the same sentiments. “Mahmudullah's retirement is timely, given his age and dwindling form,” Isam said. “He made his T20I comeback earlier this year after missing 27 matches in 2022. He was almost forgotten in this format after the 2021 World Cup.” Mahmudullah waves goodbye to T20Is Mahmudullah, who has batted in nearly every position, truly earned global respect during the 2015 World Cup with two centuries. No Bangladeshi batter had achieved a World Cup century before him. Despite his versatility, Mahmudullah rarely had a fixed batting position, frequently shifting to suit the team’s needs. Reflecting on his career, Nazmul Abedeen said that Mahmudullah was often the best option at his position. “He never gave others a chance to claim his spot,” Nazmul noted, alluding to Mahmudullah's dedication. Despite primarily batting in the lower order, Mahmudullah is Bangladesh’s second-highest run-scorer in T20Is, with 2,395 runs and eight fifties—just 156 runs shy of Shakib Al Hasan. After his remarkable ODI World Cup run in 2015, Mahmudullah adopted a more aggressive approach, honing his big-hitting skills. His T20I career saw a significant transformation after 2016, as he averaged 26 in 85 matches after that, compared to his career average of 19 in 54 games before that. “Mahmudullah became a transformed cricketer,” Isam added. “His T20 career was stagnating until 2016 when Chandika Hathurusingha assigned him a new role. He raised his game with an emphasis on aerial shots and a positive outlook.” The right-hander also captained Bangladesh in 43 T20Is—more than any other Bangladeshi player—winning 16 of those matches. He was one of Bangladesh’s best T20I captains. Approaching 40, Mahmudullah has stayed fit enough for international cricket while many of his peers have retired. Ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup, he was expected to miss out, yet he proved his fitness to secure a spot. Ups and downs have defined Mahmudullah’s career, but he consistently found ways to fight back and make comebacks against all odds. “It will be hard to replace Mahmudullah’s experience, but his role has become outdated in T20s,” Isam noted. “Bangladesh will need to rethink their T20 batting structure, and replacing Mahmudullah may require a fundamental shift in their setup.”

Bangladesh suffered a narrow four-run defeat to South Africa in their second T20 World Cup match. Bangladeshi fans believe they were unjustly deprived of four crucial runs when a delivery struck Mahmudullah Riyad's pad and crossed the boundary rope. However, a controversial ICC rule meant no runs were awarded to Bangladesh. The incident occurred in the 17th over of Bangladesh's innings. Mahmudullah attempted to flick a delivery from Ottneil Baartman but missed, the ball hitting his front pad before deflecting to the boundary. South Africa appealed for LBW, and umpire Sam Nogajski raised his finger. Mahmudullah immediately sought a DRS review, which revealed the ball was missing leg stump, overturning the dismissal.  However, the boundary was not added to Bangladesh's total due to the existing ICC rule stating that once an umpire makes an out or not-out decision, the ball becomes dead, regardless of the DRS outcome. The impact of this incident proved significant, as Bangladesh ultimately lost the match by precisely four runs—the exact number denied due to the controversial rule. Fakhrul continues to hammer govt's handling of the economy, breakdown of institutions This has ignited widespread controversy in the cricketing world, raising questions about the fairness of the rule. Former Bangladesh captain and opener Tamim Iqbal urged the ICC to seriously reconsider this rule. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, alongside South African Morne Morkel, Tamim suggested that umpires should take a few more seconds to make such crucial calls. “You have time, you can wait a couple of seconds to see where the ball is going—whether it's going for a boundary or not. Then you can make your decision. Regardless of anything, I strongly feel that if the batter is not out and the ball hits their thigh pad or pad and goes for a boundary, it should be given as runs,” Tamim said. “This is something the ICC can seriously look into,” the former Bangladesh captain added, acknowledging that he may sound biased but expressing his genuine sentiment. Morkel echoed Tamim's sentiments, saying that he hopes for a rule change after the World Cup. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer also criticized the current law, taking to social media to express his disapproval. “Mahmudullah was wrongly given out LBW, the ball went for four leg byes. The decision was reversed on DRS. Bangladesh didn't get the 4 runs as the ball is dead once the batter is given out, even if wrongly,” he wrote on his social media account. T20 World Cup: Bangladesh fall agonisingly short in low run chase against South Africa With a fresh scar of a heartbreaking defeat, Bangladesh team has now arrived in the West Indies for their next two matches against the Netherlands and Nepal. They, with a win in the first match against Sri Lanka, still have a good chance of qualifying for the next round of the tournament.

Despite a poor performance by the top and middle orders, Mehidy Hasan Miraz's maiden ODI hundred and Mahmudullah Riyad's effective knock guided Bangladesh to an impressive total of 271 runs in the second ODI against India in the three-match series in Mirpur. While Mahmudullah fell for 77, Miraz was not out, scoring 100* off 83 balls—his best innings in the format—with 8 fours and 4 sixes.  After Bangladesh lost six wickets for 69 runs within 18 overs, Miraz and Mahamudullah staged a remarkable partnership of 148 runs off 165 balls, propelling team Bangladesh to a challenging total of 260 runs. Their invaluable contribution gave Bangladesh a realistic chance of winning the match. Read more: Bangladesh win toss, batting first in 2nd ODI vs India Before Miraz and Mahamudullah's heroics, Mohammad Siraj and Umran Malik gave Bangladesh a difficult start to the innings after they elected to bat first. Thanks to their efforts with the ball, Bangladesh found themselves in a very precarious situation, requiring an unlikely recovery to set a decent total. Siraj put Bangladesh under pressure early on by taking the wickets of Anamul Haque Bijoy and Liton Das in quick succession. Umran then delivered a lethal 151 kmph fast ball, which Najmul Hossain Shanto failed to connect with, resulting in his off-stump being destroyed. Washington Sundar then compounded Bangladesh's misery by taking the wickets of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Afif Hossain, with the latter going for a golden duck. This triple-strike gave India a huge advantage and left Bangladesh on the back foot. When Bangladesh seemed to be heading for a disastrous collapse, Miraz and Mahmudullah combined forces and rescued their team from the cliff edge. They put on an impressive partnership of 148 runs until Umran bowled a short-pitched delivery, which Mahmudullah failed to connect properly with and plucked a dolly to the wicket-keeper. Read more: 2nd ODI: Bangladesh struggle against dominant Indian bowlers Mahmudullah eventually closed off the innings with 77 off 96 balls, featuring seven boundaries, despite his poor form in the first match, leading to many questions being asked of him. Nevertheless, Bangladesh coach Russell Domingo showed faith in his batter's abilities, believing that Mahmudullah could deliver when it mattered most. Miraz continues to amaze the fans with his batting ability. He was the hero of Bangladesh in the first match that Bangladesh won from a lost position, and now he saved the Tigers from a batting collapse that looked inevitable at one point. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was most aggressive against Indian bowling in the last five overs, when Bangladesh scored more than 60 runs at an average of more than 11. Miraz managed to reach his first One-Day International century thanks to his attacking display, and Bangladesh got a total of 271 to challenge a strong Indian batting lineup. For India, Washington bagged three wickets, while Siraj and Umran shared four wickets between them.

The players' draft for BPL 2023 took place in a hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday (November 23). Allrounder Mahmudullah Riyad will play for Fortune Barishal in the new season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), and Mushfiuqr Rahim will represent Sylhet Strikers. This year’s BPL is set to start the first week of January 2023. In Barishal, Mahmudullah will get Shakib Al Hasan in the team, and in Sylhet, Mushiqur will play with Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. While Sylhet signed Masrhafe outside the draft, Barishal kept Shakib for the season. Former Bangladesh captains Mohammad Ashraful and Mominul Haque did not get a team in the draft. On draft day, it was unclear if any team would show any interest in them. Read more: 7 local cricketers get direct contracts in 2023 BPL Along with Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Anamul Haque Bijoy, and Ebadot Hossain were roped in by Barishal. Teams after the players' draft for BPL 2023 Comilla Victorians: Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Abrar Ahmed, Litton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Imrul Kayes, Josh Cobb, Ashiqur Zaman, Brandon King, Jaker Ali Anik, Sean Williams, Chadwick Walton, Shykat Ali, Abu Hider Rony, Nayeem Hasan, Mukidul Islam, Mahidul Islam Ankon. Fortune Barishal: Shakib Al Hasan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim, Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Usman Qadir, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kesrick Williams, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Naveen-ul-Haq, Kusal Perera, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Fazle Rabbi, Haider Ali, Chaturanga de Silva, Saif Hassan, Khaled Ahmed, Qazi Anik, Sanzamul Islam, Salman Hossain. Chattogram Challengers: Afif Hossain, Vishwa Fernando, Ashan Priyanjan, Curtis Campher, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Shuvagata Hom, Mehedi Hasan Rana, Irfan Sukkur, Mehedi Maruf, Ziaur Rahman, Maxwell Patrick, Unmukt Chand, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed Rahi, Farhad Reza, Tawfique Khan Tushar. Dhaka Dominators: Taskin Ahmed, Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Munaweera, Mohammad Mithun, Soumya Sarkar, Shoriful Islam, Arafat Sunny, Nasir Hossain, Al Amin Hossain, Shan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad, Alok Kapali, Monir Hossain Khan, Ariful Haque, Muktar Ali, Mizanur Rahman, Delwar Hossain, Usman Ghani, Salman Irshad. Khulna Tigers: Tamim Iqbal, Avishka Fernando, Wahab Riaz, Naseem Shah, Azam Khan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nasum Ahmed, Nahidul Islam, Munim Shahriar, Sabbir Rahman, Dasun Shanaka, Paul Van Meekeren, Shafiqul Islam, Pritom Kumar, Habibur Rahman, Mahmudul Hasan Joy. Read more: BPL 2023: Syhet Strikers ropes in Mashrafe, Amir, Perera Rangpur Riders: Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shoaib Malik, Pathum Nissanka, Sikandar Raza, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Nawaz, Jaffrey Vandersay, Sheikh Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Naim Sheikh, Rakibul Hasan Jr, Shamim Hossain, Ripon Mondol, Azmatullah Omarzai, Aaron Jones, Rony Talukder, Parvez Hossain Emon, Alauddin Babu. Sylhet Strikers: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Haris, Thisara Perera, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Colin Ackermann, Ryan Burl, Mushfiqur Rahim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Nabil Samad, Towhid Hridoy, Rubel Hossain, Tom Moores, Chaturanga de Silva, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Islam Apu, Akbar Ali, Mohammad Sharifullah, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. One of the major talking points leading up to the BPL 2023 players' draft was where Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim would play next season. Riyad and Shakib will play together for the Barishal franchise, while Mushfiqur and Mashrafe will be seen playing together for Sylhet. Read More: BPL 2023: What Mashrafe, Perara and Amir can bring to Sylhet Strikers

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday announced the 15-member Bangladesh team for T20 World Cup 2022, to be held late October in Australia. Bangladesh overlooked Mahmudullah Riyad for the T20 World Cup. “Mahmudullah did very well for Bangladesh, but looking at the future, he is not part of our future plan,” Minhazul Abedin, the chief selector told media. “The decision was taken after discussion with all involving parties — selectors, coaches and the board. Read:Bangladesh’s new target is 2024 T20 World Cup, says Nazmul Minhazul also said the new T20 consultant Sridharan Sriram set a plan for the future for Bangladesh team and that has no space for Mahmudullah. Mahmudullah has been going through a bad patch for a while now. The allrounder failed to impress in the Asia Cup. Before that, he failed to do well in Zimbabwe and West Indies tours as well. Bangladesh will miss the service of seniors like Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal as both have retired from the format recently. With being overlooked from the T20I squad, Mahmudullah’s T20I career has unofficially ended. “Everyone has a chance to play for Bangladesh,” Habibul Bashar, the former captain and current selector said. But it’s clear, Mahmudullah’s career in the shortest format of the game has ended. Sabbir Rahman, the top-order batter, has been added to the team, but Soumya Sarkar, who was in discussion, has been overlooked. Bangladesh, however, added Najmul Hossain Shanto, who has no impressive performance in the format. “Najmul has been added to the squad after discussion with the captain, and coaching staff,” Minhajul said. Ahead of the World Cup, Bangladesh will take part in a tri-series T20 in New Zealand which also involves Pakistan. The tri-series will begin on October 7 at Christchurch. Bangladesh will play five matches in the Super 12s round of the World Cup in Group 2. They will have India, Pakistan, South Africa and two teams from the T20 World Cup qualifiers.

Mosaddek Hossain Saikat will lead Bangladesh in the third and final T20I against Zimbabwe Tuesday as injury has ruled Nurul Hasan Sohan out of the squad for the match, according to the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Mahmudullah Riyad will be in the team for the third T20 as a replacement for Sohan, who suffered a painful blow to his finger during the second T20I Sunday. Read: BAN vs ZIM ODI Series 2022: What to expect from Bangladesh and squad preview  The Tigers won the match by seven wickets to level the series. So, the third match has become the series decider. After the T20I series, Bangladesh will play a three-match ODI series against the hosts, starting on August 5 at the Harare Sports Club. All the matches will be played at the same venue.

Bangladesh T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad said he is hoping that the spinners would do better on the wicket of Providence Stadium in Guyana. Bangladesh will take on the hosts West Indies in the third T20I on Thursday night aiming to level up the series.  The first match of the series was washed away due to heavy rain. The hosts won the second match by 35 runs and they are leading by 1-0 in the series. Now, Bangladesh has only one way to level the series— to win the final match.  Also read: BAN vs WI 3rd T20I 2022: Bangladesh seek to level the series “Spinners can do well on this wicket,” Mahmudullah said before the match. “I’ve previously played ODI here and saw that the wicket of this venue is traditionally dry which is helpful for the spinners.” But the Bangladesh team is yet to decide how the team will look. “Still, we have to think about many things. The condition might change if it rains here on the match day. We will decide about our playing XI later,” Mahmudullah added.  If the condition remains dry, Bangladesh might bring Nasum Ahmed, the left-arm spinner, back to the playing XI.  Also read: WI vs BAN Series 2022: 7 attainable personal milestones for Bangladeshi cricketers Before the T20I series, Bangladesh played a two-match Test series against the West Indies and lost both matches. After the T20I series, Bangladesh will take on the hosts in a three-match ODI series starting from July 10. The other matches will be played on July 13 and 16. 

Bangladesh played 46 international matches in the year 2021. They won 20 matches, lost 25, and drew one match. Bangladesh have three captains for each format, that had resulted in a variance of outcomes. ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal had the best % winning ratio among the captains, indicating that Bangladesh are a strong limited-overs team. Team tigers won the majority of international matches under T20 captain Mahmudullah's leadership, while Mominul was the most unsuccessful captain. Let's take a look at three captains' performances in 2021.   2021 International Record: Bangladesh National Men’s Cricket Team   The Bangladesh national men's cricket team had a packed calendar in the year 2021. Team Tigers played most of their international matches in the twenty20 format. As a result, they won the bulk of their matches in the shortest format. The majority of their losses also came in the T20 format, as predicted. Bangladesh won two of their historic T20 series under the captaincy of Mahmudullah Riyad, but he also had the most defeats as captain. ODI captain Tamim Iqbal did not play any international matches in the second half of the year, but he had a better winning ratio than the other two. Mominul Haque continued to struggle as Test captain in the year 2021.   Here is the format-wise Bangladesh’s international record in 2021  Format Matches Won Lost Draw Test 7 1 5 1 ODI 12 8 4 0 T20I 27 11 16 0              Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Captains' Performance Review for the Year 2021 Bangladesh began their 2021 international campaign with a three-match One-Day International series against the West Indies at home. Team Tigers thrashed the Caribbean side in that series. However, Bangladesh's year came to an end with a 2-0 Test series loss to Pakistan at home. The following is a breakdown of each Bangladesh captain's performance. Mominul Haque (Test) Match as Captain: 7 | Won: 1 | Lost: 5 | Draw: 1 Left-hand batter Mominul Haque is still learning the art of captaincy and will require more time to adjust as a leader. Mominul recently guided Bangladesh to a historic Test match victory in New Zealand. Winning a match in New Zealand is a huge accomplishment for Mominul and the Bangladesh Test team. However, the Mominul-led Bangladesh Test team did not do well in 2021. Team Tigers won their lone Test match away from home, against Zimbabwe in July.   Bangladesh lost the remainder of their longer-version matches last year, aside from their lone Test victory. Bangladesh lost both of their Test series against Pakistan and the West Indies. Bangladesh put up a valiant fight against the West Indies but came up short in both matches. Besides, the performance against Pakistan was subpar. Pakistan dominated both matches and deservedly won each Test match by a big margin. Bangladesh's campaign hoped for a stronger showing against Sri Lanka, however, the Lankans also won the series 1-0. Overall, Mominul had a difficult year as captain last year.   Mominul Haque Test Stats in 2021  Match Runs HS Ave 100s 7 503 127 41.91 2             Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Tamim Iqbal (ODI) Match as Captain: 12 | Won: 8 | Lost: 4 A second-string West Indian squad visited Bangladesh at the beginning of 2021. Tamim Iqbal-led Bangladesh team thrashed that West Indian side 3-0 in the series. Though this type of outcome was predicted from Bangladesh. The New Zealand tour was Tamim Iqbal's toughest challenge as captain last year. As predicted, Bangladesh lost the ODI series (3-0) to New Zealand. They came close to winning in the second encounter in Christchurch but fell short against the Kiwis. Bangladesh went on to win two more ODI series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Tamim did a decent job as captain overall but all of Bangladesh's ODI victories in 2021 were predicted. Everyone would have applauded Tamim if his side had won a match on New Zealand soil. Tamim Iqbal ODI Stats in 2021          Match Runs HS Ave 100s 12 464 112 38.66 1             Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Mahmudullah Riyad (T20I) Match as Captain: 27 | Won: 11 | Lost: 16   Bangladesh lost their first and last T20I series of the year 2021 against New Zealand and Pakistan respectively. However, the captain of the Twenty20 team Mahmudullah Riyad was strongly criticized following his performance in the T20 World Cup 2021. Bangladesh did not win a match in the Super 12s, but more importantly, they lost a match against Scotland in the qualifiers. Fans were disappointed by Bangladesh's overall performance at the mega event. Prior to the twenty20 World Cup 2021, Bangladesh had won two major home series against Australia and New Zealand, respectively. Many argue that winning two home series on slow pitches sent the wrong message to Bangladeshi players. As a result, Bangladeshi cricketers did not reach their full potential during the mega event. Another T20 series triumph for Bangladesh came against Zimbabwe in July. Overall, the team had made little progress in this format despite the fact that the Mahmudullah-led side won a record 11 T20 matches for Bangladesh in 2021.   Mahmudullah Riyad T20I Stats in 2021        Batting Match Runs HS SR 50s 26 496 52 105.30 2 Bowling         Match Wickets BBI Ave Econ 26 5 3/10 26.20 6.89               Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Aftermath None of the Bangladesh captains had shown much progress in terms of pushing the team to the next level last year. They all enjoyed some success as captains. but that was to be anticipated from the Bangladesh side. Winning two bilateral home series against Australia and New Zealand were two of the most noteworthy achievements in 2021, and T20 skipper Mahmudullah Riyad deserves credit for both. 

One of Bangladesh's most dependable players over the last 15 years, Mahmudullah Riyad announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday (November 24). He also stated that he will continue to play white-ball cricket for Bangladesh (ODI and T20I) in the press release. Riyad decided to retire from longer-version cricket after delivering a match-winning knock against Zimbabwe in July. In honor of Mahmudullah's retirement from Test cricket, let's take a look at Mahmudullah Riyad's three match-winning centuries for Bangladesh. Read:Test Cricket: Mahmudullah finally says goodbye Mahmudullah Riyad’s three match-winning Test hundreds for Bangladesh Mahmudullah Riyad made his Test debut against West Indies in 2009 at Kingston. He represented Bangladesh in 50 Test matches. He amassed 2,914 runs at a 33.49 average while taking 43 wickets at a 45.53 average. Mahmudullah scored 5 hundred and 16 fifties for the Test team. Take a look at the three centuries he scored to help Bangladesh win Test matches. Match: Bangladesh vs West Indies (2nd Test, 2018) Venue: SBNCS, Mirpur Result: Bangladesh (innings and 184 runs) Mahmudullah Riyad’s performance: 136 (1st innings) The match was the second Test between Bangladesh and the visiting West Indies side in the series. Bangladesh had already taken a 1-0 lead in the series and they were considerably more at ease going into this match. Bangladesh scored 508 runs in their first innings before being bowled out. Interestingly, every batter from the top to the bottom in Bangladesh's innings made a significant contribution. Though the only centurion among the batters from Bangladesh was Mahmudullah Riyad. He scored 136 runs in 242 balls in the first innings, ensuring the hosts a big total. After that, Bangladesh bowled the West Indies out twice to win by an innings. Bangladesh took entire control of the contest thanks to Mahmudullah's knock. Read:Women’s WC: Sharmin’s historic ton guides Bangladesh to earn massive 270-run win vs USA Match: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe (2nd Test, 2018) Venue: SBNCS, Mirpur Result: Bangladesh (218 runs) Mahmudullah Riyad’s performance: 36 & 101* Bangladesh were under a great deal of pressure going into this match after losing the first Test. Bangladesh scored 522/7 before declaring their first innings, thanks to Mominul and Mushfiqur Rahim's outstanding batting performances. However, they still had a lot of work to do in the second innings to put Zimbabwe under strain who were bowled out for 304 runs in the first innings. Mahmudullah Riyad rose to the occasion with a determined 101* run innings that enabled Bangladesh to take a commanding third-innings lead. Bangladesh won the match by 218 runs thanks to Mahmudullah's crucial innings. Read Dhaka Division win National Cricket League 2021 Match: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe (One-off Test, 2021) Venue: Harare sports club Result: Bangladesh (220 runs) Mahmudullah Riyad’s performance: 150* (1st innings) Mahmudullah Riyad bid farewell to the Test format with a brilliant 150* from 278 balls knock against Zimbabwe earlier this year. Bangladesh scored 468 runs in their first innings, although the visitors were under pressure at one stage after losing six wickets for only 132 runs. Then, the Mahmudullah-Liton stand helped Bangladesh stay strong and score big in the first innings. Riyad remained undefeated at the crease with a superb hundred. Bangladesh finally won the match by a comfortable margin, thanks to Riyad's responsible first-innings performance. Read: How did Bangladesh perform in BAN vs PAK T20I Series 2021? Aftermath Apart from the match-winning knocks highlighted above, Mahmudullah Riyad made a significant contribution to the Test format for Bangladesh. Riyad's contribution to the game sometimes goes unnoticed as he is renowned as the silent-killer. Many times, he scored 30/40 runs which were essential in the context of the game, but his efforts went unnoticed. Mahmudullah's retirement from Test cricket will leave a huge void in Bangladesh's middle-order batting lineup. 

A little hope was there that Mahmudullah Riyad would continue to play Test cricket despite announcing his retirement in an abrupt move in July this year, but the hope finally got dashed on Wednesday. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has issued an official statement of Mahmudullah ending his 12-year-long Test career.  Mahmudullah was upset when he was axed from the Test squad last year. His omission was mainly enforced by head coach of the Bangladesh team Russell Domingo.  Read: 'Heartbreaking': Mahmudullah on Tigers' T20I blowout v Pakistan “Leaving a format of which I’ve been a part of for such a long time is not easy. I had always thought of going on a high and I believe this is the right time to end my Test career,” Mahmudullah was quoted as saying in a statement provided by the BCB.  The 35-year old played his 50th and last Test against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club in July this year with Bangladesh recording a 220-run win. In his final innings, the right-hander made an unbeaten 150, his fifth hundred in Tests, and was adjudged the player of the match. The all-rounder got his Test cap back in 2009 against West Indies. He scored a total of 2914 runs in Tests at an average of 33.49 and took 43 wickets with the five-wicket haul in his debut. He has also captained Bangladesh in six Test matches. Read: Mahmudullah punts future as captain to BCB “I want to extend my gratitude to the BCB president for supporting me when I returned to the Test team. I thank my teammates and the support staff for always encouraging me and believing in my ability. It has been an absolute honour and privilege to play Test cricket for Bangladesh and I will cherish the many memories,” Mahmudullah added.  However, the right-handed off-spinning all-rounder will continue to play limited-over cricket at the international level.