Mahmudullah

Like Sanath Jayasuriya, Kevin Pietersen, Shoaib Malik, Steve Smith and many more, Mahmudullah started his career as a bowler and then converted into a batsman who could bowl handy off-breaks. He became the first Bangladeshi World Cup centurion when he scored 103 against England at the Adelaide Oval that helped his team reach the knockout stage for the first time.

Born in Mymensingh, Mahmudullah made his first-class debut for Bangladesh A at the age of 19 and posted scores of 55 and 42 against Zimbabwe A. He made his debut in international cricket in an ODI against Sri Lanka in July 2007 and made an instant impact picking up 2 wickets and scored 36 runs but the effort went in vain as Bangladesh came up short. The performance was enough to convince the selectors to pick him for the tour to Kenya and the T20 World Cup later that year. He was briefly dropped from the side in 2008 but worked his way back with phenomenal domestic performances to earn a recall.

Mahmudullah made his Test debut on 9 July 2009 against the West Indies and made a dream start to his career in whites. He failed with the bat, but produced the best bowling figures for a Bangladeshi on debut. He took 8 wickets in the match, including a 5-wicket haul in the second innings to help Bangladesh seal their first ever win abroad. The match figures remain his best till date.

After the series win against West Indies, Mahmudullah found his rhythm with the bat in the longest format. He put up five scores of more than fifty in five consecutive matches, which also included his maiden Test ton against New Zealand at Hamilton. Although Mahmudullah scored that Test century batting at number 8, the selection committee preferred not to promote him up the order due to his perceived weakness against fast bowling, despite the number four spot having no permanent occupant.

Batting at number 7, Mahmudullah scored lots of runs in ODIs and he was picked for the 2011 World Cup, where he shared a vital partnership with Shafiul Islam to take Bangladesh to victory against England. After the World Cup, Mahmudullah was named as Bangladesh's vice-captain, taking over from Tamim Iqbal. When West Indies toured in October, Mahmudullah missed all the matches with a viral fever. He recovered in time to rejoin the squad to face Pakistan in three ODIs in November, where he scored 56 runs and bowled in just one match, taking three wickets from seven deliveries.

There was a dip in his form and he couldn't score runs freely in the home series against Sri Lanka in February 2014. In the subsequent Asia Cup 2014, he struggled to take wickets on a regular basis. His poor form continued in the 2014 World T20 which saw Bangladesh lose all their matches in the Super 10s. However, he rediscovered his touch just in the nick of time which enabled his selection for the 2015 World Cup.

By far, Mahmudullah was the best Bangladesh batsman in the 2015 World Cup. His century knocked England out of the tournament and he backed it up with another ton, an unbeaten 128 against the co-hosts New Zealand, albeit in a losing cause. Overall, he scored 365 in seven innings which helped his team secure a berth in the quarters, where they were eventually beaten by India.

That tournament was a turning point for Mahmudullah as he hasn't looked back ever since. He has played quite a few impact knocks after that, mostly in the lower middle order where he takes charge of finishing the innings for Bangladesh. His presence lends extra stability to the batting. Mahmudullah continues to be a regular member in the Bangladesh set-up across all formats despite his inconsistency in Tests. He has performed decently in red-ball cricket but it won't be wrong to say that he has under-achieved. In recent years,

By Abhinand Raghavendran and Hariprasad Sadanandan