Mahmudullah announces retirement from T20I cricket; Check when he will play his last match

Mahmudullah is Bangladesh’s second-highest T20I run-scorer.

Veteran Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah has announced his retirement from T20I cricket. The 38-year-old announced this news ahead of the second T20I of the ongoing IND vs BAN T20I series in India.

The second IND vs BAN T20I will be played on October 9 in Delhi.

When will Mahmudullah play his last T20I match?

Mahmudullah has confirmed that the T20I series against India is his last in this format. The series will end on October 12 in Hyderabad. He will continue to play ODIs for Bangladesh.

Mahmudullah said, “I am retiring from T20I cricket after the last game of this series. I was pre-decided before coming here. I had a chat with my family. I spoke to the coach [Chandika Hathurusinghe], captain [Najmul Hossain Shanto], chief selector [Gazi Ashraf Hossain] and the board president [Faruque Ahmed] as well. I think it is the right time to move on from this format for me and the team. Especially with the World Cup coming up in less than two years. I will concentrate on the one-day game.”

Mahmudullah had retired from test cricket in 2021. The former Bangladeshi captain is the fourth-most-capped T20I player in history and will become joint-third-most by the end of this series if he plays in both the remaining T20Is.

He is Bangladesh’s second-highest T20I run-scorer with 2395 runs, scored in 139 T20Is at an average of 23 and strike rate of 117 with eight half-centuries to his name. He has also picked up 40 wickets in this format.

Earlier this year, he became Bangladesh’s oldest player in T20Is.

Mahmudullah said his T20I game was transformed in 2016 when he was asked to don the role of a finisher.

“Back in 2016, there was a T20 World Cup in India. Before that, we had a training camp in Khulna. I changed my batting approach from that camp. I had to bat at No. 6 or 7, so I decided to change my approach and style. It was the team’s finisher role. It was a very tricky place to bat. Not always you could finish the game. People would usually highlight the ones you didn’t finish, rather than the ones you were there for. But it is part and parcel of this game,” he added.

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