Mahmudullah Riyad: Biography

Mahmudullah Riyad (Bengali: মাহমুদউল্লাহ রিয়াদ; born 4 February 1986) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team in all formats. He is a right-handed middle-order batsman and an off-spin bowler. He has played First-class and List A cricket for Dhaka Division and has represented Bangladesh in all forms of the game. He is one of the most successful all-rounders in Bangladesh cricket history, with over 9,000 runs and 150 wickets across all formats.

Early life and family

Mahmudullah was born in Mymensingh, Bangladesh to a cricket-loving family. He has two brothers. He studied in Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP), a sports institute, where he received formal training and coaching. He later enrolled in American International University-Bangladesh and completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree.

Personal life

Mahmudullah married Jannatul Kifayet Mondi, an agriculturist, in 2011. She is the sister-in-law of his fellow cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim, who is married to her younger sister. He practices Islam and follows Islamic practices. He is also fond of travelling, playing golf and football.

Early cricket career

Mahmudullah represented the Bangladesh Under-19s team in various tournaments. He played in the Under-19 World Cup in 2004 and 2006. He made his first-class debut for Dhaka Division in October 2005. In the 2006–07 National Cricket League, he scored three centuries and finished the season with 779 runs at an average of 51.93, helping Dhaka Division win the championship.

International debut

Mahmudullah made his international debut for Bangladesh in July 2007 against Sri Lanka in an ODI match. He scored 36 runs and took one wicket. He made his Test debut in July 2009 against West Indies and scored 28 runs and took eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the second innings. He made his T20I debut in September 2007 against Kenya and scored 22 runs and took two wickets.

ODI career

Mahmudullah has scored over 4,000 runs and taken more than 80 wickets in ODIs. He has scored four centuries and 23 half-centuries, with a highest score of 128 not out against New Zealand in March 2019. During the same match, he and Soumya Sarkar made a partnership of 235 runs for the fifth wicket, which is the highest fifth-wicket partnership for Bangladesh in ODI cricket. He has also been part of the Bangladesh team that reached the final of the Asia Cup three times (in 2012, 2016 and 2018).

T20I career

Mahmudullah has scored over 1,500 runs and taken more than 30 wickets in T20Is. He has scored nine half-centuries, with a highest score of 64 not out against Pakistan in March 2016. He holds the record for the most runs by a Bangladeshi batsman in a bilateral T20I series, scoring 276 runs against Zimbabwe in March 2020. He has also played in six T20 World Cups and helped Bangladesh reach the Super 10 stage once (in 2014).

Test career

Mahmudullah has scored over 3,000 runs and taken more than 40 wickets in Tests. He has scored five centuries and nine half-centuries, with a highest score of 150 not out against Zimbabwe in February 2020. He is the first Bangladeshi batsman to score a century in both innings of a Test match, achieving it against Zimbabwe in November 2018. He has played in four Test World Championships and helped Bangladesh achieve their first-ever Test wins over England and Australia (in 2016 and 2017 respectively).

Records and achievements

Mahmudullah holds several records and achievements in international cricket. Some of them are:

He is the first Bangladeshi player to score a World Cup hundred, scoring 103 against England in March 2015. He also scored another hundred against New Zealand in the same tournament, becoming the second Bangladeshi player to score consecutive hundreds in ODIs.
He is the first Bangladeshi player to score a fifty and take a five-wicket haul in the same Test match, achieving it against West Indies in July 2009.
He is the first Bangladeshi player to score a century as a captain in T20Is, scoring 101 not out against Zimbabwe in March 2020.
He is the most successful captain for Bangladesh in T20Is, with 14 wins out of 25 matches.
He is the second-highest run-scorer and most capped player for Bangladesh in T20Is.

Awards and honors

Mahmudullah has been honoured with many awards and accolades for his outstanding performances. Some of them are:

He has won the ICC ODI Player of the Year award once (in 2015), the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack Test Player of the Year award once (in 2018), and the ESPNcricinfo Best T20I Batsman of the Year award once (in 2020).
He has been awarded the National Sports Award by the Government of Bangladesh twice (in 2015 and 2018).
He has been conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the Bangladesh Army in 2020.

Captaincy stints

Mahmudullah has been appointed as the captain of Bangladesh in all three formats at different times. He first became the T20I captain in 2017 and led the team to their first-ever T20I series win over West Indies. He later became the Test and ODI captain in 2019 after Mashrafe Mortaza and Shakib Al Hasan stepped down from their respective roles. He resigned from captaincy in 2020 after a poor performance in the World Cup. He was reinstated as the T20I captain in 2021 and led the team to their first-ever T20I series win over New Zealand.

Controversies

Mahmudullah has been involved in some controversies during his career. Some of them are:

In 2014, he was dropped from the Test squad for poor form and attitude issues. He later made a comeback and scored a century against Pakistan in April 2015.
In 2016, he was involved in a heated argument with his teammate Tamim Iqbal during a practice session ahead of a Test match against England. The incident was captured on camera and went viral on social media. The duo later apologised and resolved their differences.
In 2019, he was accused of ball-tampering by Sri Lankan umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge during a Test match against Zimbabwe. He was fined 15% of his match fee and given one demerit point by the ICC for breaching the code of conduct.