Mahmudullah axing - A brave and timely decision by BCB

The recent batting form of two senior players - Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah - was a massive cause of concern for Bangladesh going into the T20 World Cup in October. After a couple of poor outings in the Asia Cup, Mushfiqur retired from the format. But then the selectors were faced with another dilemma - whether to retain Mahmudullah and leave him out of the World Cup squad. 

Many thought that the veteran might just make the cut but the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made a brave and timely decision. Mahmudullah hasn't been included in the World Cup squad. The all-rounder who led Bangladesh in the previous edition of the tournament in the UAE hasn't made the standby list as well.

Before the Asia Cup, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan hinted at a "drastic change" in mindset and approach and as part of that, former Australia assistant coach and reputed T20 coach Sridharan Sriram was appointed as the technical consultant of the team, relieving Russell Domingo of T20I duties. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin implied that the decision to axe Mahmudullah came according to Sriram's 'one-year plan' that he submitted to the board.

Mahmudullah was "'unofficially"' removed from T20I captaincy when the BCB appointed Nurul Hasan as the captain of the Zimbabwe T20I series. Mahmudullah wasn't originally in the squad but returned to the team - but not as the captain - for the third T20I after Nurul was ruled out due to an injury. 

Mahmudullah's future in the T20I side looked bleak as Shakib Al Hasan was officially named the full-time captain of the team ahead of the Asia Cup. But he made the cut for the Asia Cup based on his "experience", as stated by the chief selector. 

It was evident from team director Khaled Mahmud's statement three days ago that a part of the management including Shakib initially wanted Mahmudullah in the squad. "Mahmudullah has some innings [in T20Is] where he has single-handedly won us matches. You cannot just say no to such a player," Mahmud said.

But clearly, he wasn't part of technical consultant Sriram's plans. While the team director was speaking to the media about him, Mahmudullah was batting at the indoor stadium because he was not a part of Sriram's "skill camp".

Mahmudullah's slump has been hurting Bangladesh's middle-order for some time now. His overall numbers are pretty ordinary for a middle or late middle-order batter and cricketer-turned-broadcaster Wasim Akram, on air, criticised Mahmudullah's T20I strike-rate. His last innings in T20Is with a 150-plus strike-rate (minimum 15 balls) was against Papua New Guinea in the World Cup Qualifiers. This was also his last fifty-plus score in this format.

Since the World Cup, Mahmudullah has averaged 16.5 and struck at a mere 102.8 in T20Is. Mahmudullah batted 110 innings in the middle-order (number four to seven) in T20Is and his strike-rate (117.02) is the second-lowest among batters with at least 75 innings. 

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is not known for such brave calls but excluding an out-of-form Mahmudullah is going to be something that will send a very strong message to the players. People from the BCB have spoken extensively about "retiring from the ground" and that should prompt the players, especially the seniors who are on the other side of their thirties, to think about their future in international cricket before it's too late. 

Mahmudullah's axing will make way for the talented Yasir Ali who has shown great signs as a white-ball player in the middle-order in domestic cricket. With at least three or four batters ready to take Mahmudullah's position if asked, it looks like the former captain has already played his last T20I for Bangladesh.