Mahmudullah still in Bangladesh’s World Cup plans: BCB chief

Bangladesh has played 11 ODIs since Mahmudullah last appearance in the 50-over format. The selectors had said that he was "rested"

Lahore: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president confirmed on Monday that all-rounder Mahmudullah is still in the plans for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, which will start from October 5 onwards this year.

The all-rounder stays in contention despite last featuring in an ODI in March. Bangladesh has played 11 ODIs since his last appearance in the 50-over format. The selectors had said that he was “rested”. But he was left out of squads for subsequent series, including the Asia Cup. When he was excluded, he scored runs at a healthy average of 43.80, but his strike rate had dipped to 70.75 from a career SR of 76.17, as per ESPNCricinfo.

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In his absence, Towhid Hridoy has taken Mahmudullah’s place, but Bangladesh is still unsure of their number seven player. There are two all-rounders in the side, which allows them to pick either an extra batter or bowler.

In the recent Asia Cup match against Afghanistan, Mehidy was promoted up to open the batting and scored a century. Two frontline batters, Shamim Hossain and Afif Hossain played at numbers 7 and 8.

In May, Hassan had clarified that the all-rounder was in Bangladesh’s plans, but the selectors continued to ignore him. “I think he is [in the selectors’ thoughts]. I do not see why not. Our players are injury-prone like [Najmul Hossain] Shanto and Miraz yesterday. Mustafizur [Rahman] suffered in the first game. We need continuous replacements. We would not be able to cover the World Cup with eleven players. There is no need to take the standby players lightly,” said Hassan on Monday as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. Hassan said that Bangladesh had to move away from their plan of naming the same World Cup and Asia Cup squads due to injuries. “The Asia Cup squad was supposed to be the World Cup squad,” he said.

“But we have had to make several changes. Ebadot [Hossain] would have been in the squad if he was fit. Tamim [Iqbal] and Litton [Das] would have also been in the squad,” he added.

The president said that Bangladesh will be announcing their WC squad on September 26 after the series against New Zealand, way after the deadline of September 5.

After this date, teams have leeway to make changes to their squads. “We have to give them [the ICC] a squad for logistical reasons,” Hassan said. “I think the main squad has to be submitted on September 27. You will all know after we see them in the New Zealand series. I think those who are in Dhaka will get to play against New Zealand,” he added. “We have not been able to implement our plan.

Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das were supposed to open in the Asia Cup but they are not in the team. I do not know if they have been declared fit. We can’t make a team without them, can we? You have to understand our challenges. We have 17 players in the Asia Cup squad.” “The six in Dhaka are also capable players. Tamim and Litton will enter the fray, which makes it 25 players. We have to leave out ten players. Who to leave out? It won’t be easy. Can we leave out those who are performing? We do not have to leave out anyone now,” he concluded.