Mahmudullah

Mahmudullah, born in Mymensingh, is a batting all-rounder representing Bangladesh. It all started for him in 2004, when he was picked up for Bangladesh in the Under-19 World Cup, where they won the Plate Championship, beating Australia in the final. In 2005, he was selected in the Bangladesh A squad for the tour of Zimbabwe. It did not take him long to have an instant impact at the first-class level, as his scores of 55 and 42 in the two innings played a crucial role in Bangladesh A’s victory in the first Test. His performances eventually bore fruit, as he was selected for the Bangladesh senior team for the ODI series in Sri Lanka.

It did not come as a surprise when he managed to impress everyone with his all-round display throughout his debut series. Later in the year, he debuted in the shorter white-ball format during the T20 Quadrangular series featuring Pakistan, Uganda, Kenya, and Bangladesh. A couple of years later, Mahmudullah’s red-ball credentials came to light through his Test debut against the West Indies. His three-fer in the first innings and a five-wicket haul in the second innings broke the back of the West Indies batting unit, helping Bangladesh secure their first Test win on foreign soil.

A lack of consistency with both bat and ball during the first few years of his career meant he was unable to nail down his spot in the Bangladesh side as he would have liked. During the 2015 ODI World Cup, Mahmudullah became the first Bangladeshi batter to notch up a hundred in ODI World Cups. He achieved this feat against England, and by doing so, he knocked Eoin Morgan’s men out of the event. Mahmudullah’s career went on an upward trajectory after the World Cup, and he soon became a regular member of the Bangladesh side in all three formats. In the years to come, he would even go on to captain the Bangla Tigers in absence of regular skipper, Shakib Al Hasan in Tests.

After the 2019 ODI World Cup, Mahmudullah was dropped from the Test squad due to his poor performances. Eventually, he returned to the squad in the Test series against Zimbabwe in 2021. He marked the occassion of his 50th Test by scoring a brilliant unbeaten 150, his career-best in this format. However, he announced his retirement from red-ball cricket after the game and focused more on limited-overs cricket. He played in the 2021 and 2024 T20 World Cups as well as the 2023 ODI World Cup. After the three-match series against India in 2024, he announced his retirement from T20Is as well.

Mahmudullah has played for different franchises in the Bangladesh Premier League, Caribbean Premier League, and Pakistan Super League. Having started as an off-spinner, he has contributed consistently with both bat and ball for most of his career and has always been a vital cog in the wheel of Bangladesh.