That wound will never heal: Mahmudullah

Bangladesh have had their fair share of close matches in recent times. But if you were asked which was the worst for them, the Tigers' one-run defeat against India in the 2016 World T20 will be close to the top, if not at the top. 

Bangladesh needed two runs of the last three deliveries as Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad was at the crease. With two set batsmen, Bangladesh were clear favourites. But of them got out in the next two balls and Bangladesh failed to score a single run off those deliveries, succumbing to a painful defeat. 

Mahmudullah and Mushfiq have won Bangladesh a lot of memorable matches but surely, that defeat is a wound for them as they were close to ensuring Bangladesh's first T20I win against India at their own den. It was these two who led the Tigers to that achievement three years later in 2019 but still, the wound stays. 

On the last episode of Tamim's live show on social media, Mahmudullah and Mushfiq talked about that defeat and Mahmudullah said that that wound will never heal. 

"It was very difficult for me. We all know how the situation was in the dressing room or in the team hotel. Everyone was sitting outside their room late at night. That wound will never heal but then again, whenever I batted in a crunch situation, that moment chased me. I doubted myself to take the team across the line," Mahmudullah said. 

He also added that he regained his confidence after he took Bangladesh over the line in the Nidahas Trophy match against Sri Lanka to take the Tigers to the final. Mahmudullah said, "After that, I regained my confidence in the Nidahas trophy. But before that, that memory chased me and I doubted myself."

Mushfiq said that he did not expect to lose from that situation and he thinks that if Mahmudullah was on strike at that moment he could have handled it better. 

"It was unreal, to be honest. I never expected to lose from there. After hitting two consecutive fours, I was only thinking that I have to cross the line. I celebrated in the heat of the moment but I did not plan it or anything. And in the next ball, I did not think about one or two runs. I thought that after the two fours, the bowler was under pressure and he might do a mistake. The ball was in the slot but I could not execute the shot. Maybe it would have been better if Riyad bhai was on strike because he is a lot cool-headed than I am" Mushfiq said.

Mushfiq added, "It was a horrid time. And it took a lot of time to recover from it. I had also doubted myself for some time but I regained it after I took Bangladesh over the line in the first match against Sri Lanka."

He also sought a silver lining from that cloud as he said that they learnt from their mistake and reminded themselves of that situation when they were facing a tough situation. 

"From then on, when we two were together in a crunch moment, we reminded ourselves of that incident and we managed to overcome that. So what I think is, everything has a learning curve and that was one for us," Mushfiq added. 

It took Bangladesh three years to finally defeat India in T20Is. The Tigers defeated India by six wickets at Delhi in 2019 and it was Mushfiq and Mahmudullah who took them home.