Mahmudullah announces retirement from Test cricket
Mahmudullah was given a guard of honor by the Bangladesh players before the start of the fifth day’s play. He will officially announce his retirement after the match ends.
All-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad has announced his retirement from Test cricket. The announcement did come as a shock after the right-handed batter returned to the Test side after 18 months and scored his career-best 150 in the first innings against Zimbabwe in the one-off Test.
Mahmudullah apparently told his teammates after the third day's play that this match was going to be his final Test.
One of the national team cricketers from Zimbabwe confirmed the news to The Business Standard (TBS).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Citing anonymity, the cricketer said, "Riyad bhai, much to everyone's surprise, said in the team meeting that he would retire from Tests. 'This will be my last Test. I don't want to continue playing this format,' he announced."
Mahmudullah was given a guard of honor by the Bangladesh players before the start of the fifth day's play. He will officially announce his retirement after the match ends.
Mahmudullah became only the 10th batsman in Test cricket to score 150 or more runs in a retirement match.
Before this match, Mahmudullah last played Test cricket in January 2020, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, and was subsequently left out of the series against Zimbabwe last year and against West Indies and Sri Lanka this year.
He was also among a handful of cricketers to be given a white-ball-only central contract in 2020.
The selectors said Mahmudullah seemed out of depth in Tests and needed a break from red-ball cricket. He had scored just one half-century in his last ten Test innings before getting dropped.
Mahmudullah began his Test career in 2009 and has played 50 Tests. He scored 2914 runs from 94 innings at an average of 33.49 with the bat with 5 centuries and 16 fifties.
He has also bagged 43 Test wickets. His best bowling figure of 5 for 51 came against West Indies in 2009 on his Test debut.
Only five batsmen - Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Habibul Bashar and Mominul Haque - have more Test runs than him for Bangladesh.
Mahmudullah was initially left out of the touring Test squad for the Zimbabwe tour. But he was included at the very last moment after an emergency meeting as senior campaigners - Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim - were carrying injuries. And to the surprise of everybody, he was included in the playing eleven as well.
He will, however, continue playing ODIs and T20Is.
