"We had a long discussion regarding Mahmudullah" - Bangladesh Chief Selector on all-rounder's omission from 2023 Asia Cup squad
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin has clarified the axing of veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad for the 2023 Asia Cup. Abedin revealed that they discussed Mahmudullah's case at length before arriving at the decision to omit him from the squad.
The former T20I skipper was one of the most notable omissions from the 17-man squad and hasn't played since the ODI series against England due to poor performances. The recent axing might leave him pondering about whether he has played his last match for Bangladesh.
While announcing the squad at the BCB headquarters in Mirpur, Abedin said, as quoted by The Daily Star:
"We had a long discussion regarding Mahmudullah initially. After a long discussion, the team management gave us a plan entailing how they want to approach each teams [in the Asia Cup]. Riyad has been left out after considering all these scenarios."
He added:
"We thought the planning that the team management gave was obviously good as they have a plan with the head coach regarding how to go about things with the team. We had a proper discussion about everything. We also discussed it with the skipper."
Veteran opener Tamim Iqbal will miss the tournament as he continues to recover from the back injury and race to fitness for the ODI series against New Zealand next month. Hence, Tanzid Hasan Tamim has been called up to the squad.
Bangladesh's 2023 Asia Cup squad
Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Tanzid Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Sheikh Mahedi, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Mohammad Naim.
The BCB also announced Shakib al Hasan as the new captain after Tamim had stepped down from the role. The all-rounder has already led the national team in 50 ODIs, winning 23 of them. Bangladesh will open their 2023 Asia Cup campaign against Sri Lanka on August 31 at Pallekele.