'He batted at No.6, finished like Dhoni but MSD couldn't play forever': Bangladesh coach's bold claims on Mahmudullah

Bangladesh have left one of their experienced candidate Mahmudullah from the T20 World Cup squad.

Shakib al Hasan, the newly appointed Bangladesh T20I captain, had asked the fans not to expect much from the team at the Asia Cup, claiming T20 World Cup was their main focus. And such was the case, the team placed in Group B failed didn't win a single match, making an early exit from the tournament.

Bangladesh batter Mahmudullah and MS Dhoni

Now with the World Cup fast approaching, Bangladesh have left one of their experienced candidate Mahmudullah from the squad. However, their coach and former India cricketer Sridharan Sriram noted it to be the right move, adding it's an experiment to find an replacement for the right-handed batter.

"You have to decide on the successors of players. It’s the right time to find someone who could play the role of Mahmudullah in the team. If new players don’t play, then we won’t find any alternative," Sriram was quoted as saying by Sportskeeda to reporters on Wednesday.

Mahmudullah, who has featured in 121 T20Is, has been an anchor figure in the Bangladesh setup for the past decade. Such has been his presence, that the coach compared the right-handed batter with former India captain MS Dhoni.

"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 said comparing the two.

Bangladesh will kick-off their campaign on October 24.

Bangladesh T20 World Cup Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Afif Hossain, Mossadek Hossain, Litton Das, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain, Nasum Ahmed.

Standby: Soumya Sarkar, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan.