Mahmudullah Riyad was in discussion since the last T20 World Cup. In the meantime, it was heard that Riyad will say goodbye to short version cricket in the India series.
He finally announced his retirement from the format today (Tuesday) on the eve of the second T20 match against India in Delhi. Before this, Mahmudullah made his debut in international T20 in September 2007. After that, he represented the red-green jersey in this format for 17 years.
Announcing his retirement, the 38-year-old cricketer said, ‘I am retiring from T20. This is my last series. Actually I made the decision before coming here. The coach, the captain all knew. I think this is the right time to take this decision. (Bangladesh) should start preparing for the next World Cup now.’
Mahmudullah Riyad has played 139 matches in international T20 so far. Where he scored 2395 runs with 8 fifties at an average of 23.48 and about 118 strikerates. Apart from this, he took 40 wickets in the short version with the ball.
Bangladesh will play the second T20 of the series against India tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Then on October 12, the third and final match of the series will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. That will be Mahmudullah’s last T20 match in Bangladesh jersey. Before this, Mahmudullah Riyad suddenly retired from Test cricket during the tour of Zimbabwe in July 2021.