Mahmudullah announces T20I retirement date

Senior Bangladesh cricketer Mahmudullah is playing his last T20I series as he has announced his T20I retirement, which will happen after the end of the ongoing series. 

Bangladesh are currently busy in the three-match T20I series against the hosts India. The 38-year-old all-rounder Mahmudullah is playing his last T20I series. While India comfortably won the series opener by seven wickets, the next two fixtures will be played on October 9th and 12th at Delhi and Hyderabad, respectively. So, he is likely to play his last T20I on October 12th. 

Mahmudullah holds the record for most T20I matches for Bangladesh with 139 T20I, where the right-handed batter scored 2395 runs and picked up 40 wickets. Mahmudullah has also taken 50 T20I catches.  

In the T20I record book, Mahmudullah is in fourth place for the most T20I appearances. Meanwhile, he is the second-leading run-scorer for Bangladesh in T20I history. 

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Try to focus on the ODIs: Mahmudullah

In July 2021, Mahmudullah announced his retirement from Test cricket. With his latest T20I retirement, the Bangladesh all-rounder will continue his focus in the ODI format. 

Mahmudullah said, according to Cricbuzz, "I was pre-decided [about retirement] before coming to this series, had a chat with the captain and the coach and intimated my decision to the BCB president. It's the right time to move on from this format and try to focus on the ODIs."

Mahmudullah's most frustrating moment

Talking about the moments in his T20I career, Mahmudullah revealed that Bangladesh's defeat against the hosts India at the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 was frustrating for him. Bangladesh couldn’t win that match at Bengaluru from two runs required in three balls with four wickets in hand. After Mushfiqur Rahim’s dismissal (11), Mahmudullah was dismissed on the next ball by Hardik Pandya for 18 runs. On the final delivery, MS Dhoni’s iconic run-out helped India to win that match unbelievably by one run.

Mahmudullah's best moment

Talking about his best moment, Mahmudullah chose the Nidahas Trophy 2018. Sri Lanka hosted that T20I tri-series in celebration of their 70th year of independence. After reaching the final of that tri-series, Bangladesh lost the final against India due to Dinesh Karthik’s late heroic batting performance. 

Then vice-captain Mahmudullah was the hero of the match against the hosts Sri Lanka in the final league stage match, where both teams were required to win the match to qualify for the final. Mahmudullah scored 43 not out off just 18 balls in the thrilling successful chasing.

Mahmudullah said, "The most frustrating moment was the loss to India in the 2016 World Cup in Bengaluru. It was a life-changing moment for me, and taught me a lot. The best moment came in the Nidahas Trophy."