Mahmudullah seeking good start to gain momentum

GBNEWS24DESK//

Leaving the catastrophic Twenty20 World Cup performance behind them, Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah Riyad wants to have a winning start against Pakistan on Friday to gain momentum for the three-match T20 International series.

Mahmudullah said momentum is imperative for Bangladesh to do well in any condition of any part of the world, reports BSS.

“We know there was high expectation on us to do well in the T20 World Cup but we failed to meet that up. I believe that a good start is always important for the Bangladesh team. So we are looking for a good start and gain the momentum for the whole series,” Mahmudullah said here today in a virtual press conference ahead of the first T20 game.

The team that Bangladesh will field will be a completely new look from the one that played in the T20 World Cup recently. As many as six players were called up including four newcomers in response to catastrophic performances in the global event in which Bangladesh failed to register any victory in the Super 12s. The side also experienced a shock defeat to Scotland in the qualifying round before huffing and puffing their way to play the Super 12s, beating Oman and Papua New Guinea.

For the first time in many years, Bangladesh will be without their three stalwarts in the game—Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal were unavailable due to injuries and Mushfiqur Rahim was rested. The only senior player in the side remains Mahmudullah Riyad who retained his captaincy despite a poor outing in the World Cup.

From the World Cup party, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Rubel Hossain were left out and allrounder Saifuddin missed the series due to his recurring back pain.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Aminul Islam Biplob were recalled while Under-19 World Cup winning captain Akbar Ali, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury and pacer Shohidul Islam made the cut as fresh bloods in this format.

The sweeping changes were predicted but little did anyone anticipate such a complete overhaul to the side.