Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 - South Africa v Bangladesh - Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India - October 24, 2023 Bangladesh's Mahmudullah celebrates his century.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Mumbai: Without uttering a word on the treatment meted out to him by Bangladesh selectors in the run up to the World Cup, senior batter Mahmudullah said while there's lots to say, it is not the right time to be speaking his mind in the middle of the tournament.
Mahmudullah's batting has been one of very few positives for Bangladesh in the tournament as they find themselves at the bottom of the points table after four losses.
Batting at number six, he hit a valiant 111 -- his fourth ODI century and first in the last six years -- even as the Shakib Al Hasan-led side slumped to a 149-run defeat to South Africa on Tuesday.
It was believed that Bangladesh selectors were moving on from the 37-year-old in months leading to the World Cup. But underwhelming performances from the other batters, especially the young brigade, forced them to call him back after six months in the wilderness.
During the period Mahmudullah was away from the team, Bangladesh selectors maintained the stance that he was rested.
"It was a good time. I can't say anything regarding that time. I do want to talk about a lot of things but this is not the right time to talk about," Mahmudullah told the media after the match on Tuesday.
"All I can say is that I wanted to contribute to the team. I would have liked to contribute more so that we won the game. Probably Allah has given me the strength to keep going. I tried to keep my fitness in shape. I kept working hard. That is all I can do," he added.
Chasing a massive target of 383, Bangladesh were reduced to 81 for six at one stage as Mahmudullah tried delaying the inevitable with the tailend batters to take them as far as 233 in 46.4 overs.
The veteran batter was specific in dedicating his century -- only the fourth in his 225-match ODI career -- to those who supported him in the "last three months".
"I would like to dedicate it to my family and those people who supported and prayed for me in the last three months. I want to thank those among you who supported me, and those who didn’t support me."
The 37-year-old said he was told by the coach Chandika Hathurusingha that he would bat as low as at No. 6 despite the fact that Bangladesh needed his experience and presence in the middle-order.
"I tried to contribute to the team's cause. I have seen a lot of ups and downs throughout my career. (Batting down the order) is fine. Yesterday (Monday), coach told me that I was batting at No 6. I went out there and played my game."
Mahmudullah said Bangladesh could not bat aggressively against South Africa as they lost too many wickets at the top.
"Nobody likes to lose. It was obviously disappointing. I think there was movement early on, but it was a good wicket overall. We lost early wickets. We did not recover."
Mahmudullah said Bangladesh are not able to create momentum for themselves after hurtling from one loss to another.
"I think we are not getting that momentum. Whether batting or bowling, you have to create an opportunity to win the game. We haven’t got there. The bowlers made the job easy for us against Afghanistan. We have not created those opportunities in the other games. We are discussing, doing meetings, but we have not been able to execute it.
With Bangladesh plummeting to the last spot in the points table, Mahmudullah conceded that their hopes of making it to the semifinals are over.
"There's no point thinking about outcomes now, whether we can reach semifinals or not. We get a win in the next game, we get some momentum for the next match,” he said.