Riyad makes impact as captain

While the injury-worn body put a question mark on the longevity of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s career, Mahmudullah Riyad’s outstanding captaincy in the Bangladesh Premier League gave the policy makers of the BCB something to ponder.
Riyad was the vice-captain to Mushfiqur Rahim but his prolonged bad-patch resulted his omission from this post. When the split captaincy was introduced for the first time at the end of the last year, Riyad wasn’t given any post in ODI or Test cricket but the BPL seemed to have brightened the chance. The talk gained its momentum specially when Mushfiqur Rahim struggled to make impact with his captaincy in the Test format and his deputy Tamim Iqbal also seemed not to be matured as far as the captaincy issue is concerned.
BCB insiders said, the board had already thought about giving Riyad some sort of responsibility which could be materialised at some point of time.
At the end, Mashrafe’s Comilla Victorians might win the BPL title, but Riyad was no less inspirational than Mashrafe for his side Barisal Bulls. Only a brilliant Alok Kapali-knock deprived Riyad’s team, otherwise they wholly deserved the title, given the way he played throughout the tournament.
Riyad led the side from the front and did everything what a captain could do in the final. He made the team’s highest 48 off 36, took two wickets in a measly bowling effort and held on a tough catch during the crunch moment of the game. Perhaps nobody could put a better effort than him but luck was not with the Barisal Bulls.
Mashrafe eventually won the third successive title as captain for two different teams- Dhaka Gladiators and Comilla Victorians. Riyad lost for the consecutive second time against Mashrafe. He unsuccessfully led Chittagong Kings in BPL-2. Even though he couldn’t win the team, his captaincy was believed to outshine Mashrafe in BPL-3.
Like Mashrafe, Mahmudullah Riyad also got a team which by no means was a star-studded side. It was team full of mediocre players but Riyad’s cool captaincy, coupled with his solid decision at the crucial moment, made the team an outright favourite to win the title.
While Mashrafe’s side’s journey to the final was smooth once it gained the momentum, Riyad’s side had to face barriers every time they strode out. Most of the Barisal Bulls match had a nail-biting finish which is why Riyad’s captaincy magic came to the fore.
The most memorable aspect of his captaincy was to bring up the best of Al-Amin Hossain who ended up with 17 wickets including a hat-trick which came against a low-scoring affair against Sylhet Super Stars. With 108 runs on the board, it wasn’t Bulls game but the tactical decisions and field placement was eye-catching. He had the innovation; he had the passion to win the game, ultimately which made him apparent.
He continued this way throughout the tournament until the last couple of overs in the final when actually Alok Kapali was at his supreme best. But there was no question of Riyad’s fielding placement of choice of bowlers.
“I am proud of my team even though there is sense of bad feeling because of not winning the title, after coming so close,” Riyad said after the match.
“We played good cricket throughout the match apart from the last ball of the final. That’s how life goes on but we are proud of our achievement.”
While his captaincy was eye-catching Riyad gave all credit to the coach Graham Ford and his teammates.
“I really enjoyed the captaincy. I had got some brilliant foreign and local players around me and got a nice coach who taught me many things.”

Riyad makes impact as captain

While the injury-worn body put a question mark on the longevity of Mashrafe Bin Mortazas career, Mahmudullah Riyads outstanding captaincy in the Bangladesh Premier League gave the policy makers of the BCB something to ponder. Riyad was the vice-captain to Mushfiqur Rahim but his prolonged bad-patch resulted his omission from this post. When the split captaincy was introduced for the first time at the end of the last year, Riyad wasnt given any post in ODI or Test cricket but the BPL seemed to have brightened the chance. The talk gained its momentum specially when Mushfiqur Rahim struggled to make impact with his captaincy in the Test format and his deputy Tamim Iqbal also seemed not to be matured as far as the captaincy issue is concerned. BCB insiders said, the board had already thought about giving Riyad some sort of responsibility which could be materialised at some point of time. At the end, Mashrafes Comilla Victorians might win the BPL title, but Riyad was no less inspirational than Mashrafe for his side Barisal Bulls. Only a brilliant Alok Kapali-knock deprived Riyads team, otherwise they wholly deserved the title, given the way he played throughout the tournament. Riyad led the side from the front and did everything what a captain could do in the final. He made the teams highest 48 off 36, took two wickets in a measly bowling effort and held on a tough catch during the crunch moment of the game. Perhaps nobody could put a better effort than him but luck was not with the Barisal Bulls. Mashrafe eventually won the third successive title as captain for two different teams- Dhaka Gladiators and Comilla Victorians. Riyad lost for the consecutive second time against Mashrafe. He unsuccessfully led Chittagong Kings in BPL-2. Even though he couldnt win the team, his captaincy was believed to outshine Mashrafe in BPL-3. Like Mashrafe, Mahmudullah Riyad also got a team which by no means was a star-studded side. It was team full of mediocre players but Riyads cool captaincy, coupled with his solid decision at the crucial moment, made the team an outright favourite to win the title. While Mashrafes sides journey to the final was smooth once it gained the momentum, Riyads side had to face barriers every time they strode out. Most of the Barisal Bulls match had a nail-biting finish which is why Riyads captaincy magic came to the fore. The most memorable aspect of his captaincy was to bring up the best of Al-Amin Hossain who ended up with 17 wickets including a hat-trick which came against a low-scoring affair against Sylhet Super Stars. With 108 runs on the board, it wasnt Bulls game but the tactical decisions and field placement was eye-catching. He had the innovation; he had the passion to win the game, ultimately which made him apparent. He continued this way throughout the tournament until the last couple of overs in the final when actually Alok Kapali was at his supreme best. But there was no question of Riyads fielding placement of choice of bowlers. I am proud of my team even though there is sense of bad feeling because of not winning the title, after coming so close, Riyad said after the match. We played good cricket throughout the match apart from the last ball of the final. Thats how life goes on but we are proud of our achievement. While his captaincy was eye-catching Riyad gave all credit to the coach Graham Ford and his teammates. I really enjoyed the captaincy. I had got some brilliant foreign and local players around me and got a nice coach who taught me many things.