When he carved one past deep mid-wicket to hit the winning boundary against Pakistan, Mahmudullah Riyad’s name was inscribed to the folklore of Bangladesh cricket, considering the magnitude of the shot. That boundary breathed life to the packed home crowd who were chewing the nails with anticipation. Four years ago at the same stadium, a similar platform against the same team was staged. Riyad was in the crease but couldn’t send the packed stadium delirium like 2016, instead the adorable home crowd was left in teary eyes. Riyad amended it on the first chance and buried the nightmare in style that has been haunting him and whole Bangladesh since the day.
Riyad’s brief 15 ball-22 not out eventually turned out to be a match-winning knock in Bangladesh five-wicket victory but most importantly he proved a point when his place in the T20 team was continuously questioned. Even on the eve of the beginning of the Asia Cup, he was asked whether he is able to match with the T20 aggression? For someone who has been the face of Bangladesh cricket since 2015 World Cup, it definitely should be an irritating question. But with sweet smile on the face, he replied he would try to hit the first ball out of the park.
He kept his word even though couldn’t hit first ball six but in the last three matches, he continuously struck sixes to keep Bangladesh alive in the match. He smashed two sixes against United Arab Emirates, one against Sri Lanka and one against Pakistan in his historical knock. It was the first time he smacked sixes in three successive matches and the six against Pakistan off Mohammad Irfan’s delivery was a delighting experience to see. Commentator Dean Jones termed the six as the best shot of the tournament as yet. The tallest bowler of the world fired one short of length delivery which swung slightly to go outside off. It wasn’t easy to dispatch such delivery over the rope and obviously the situation was crunch with 17th over of the game was going. But Bangladesh needed someone to rotate the scoreboard with high pace at the moment with the asking run rate increasing alarmingly. Riyad just made some space in a flush of eye to drive that 140 km plus delivery with backfoot. That was the intensity and it was the six which shifted the momentum towards Bangladesh.
In the last three matches he scored 36, 23 and 22 and those three innings were invaluable considering the match scenario. He overall scored 88, with an average of 88 and the strike rate of 146.66. Along with that he took four wickets. An ideal T20 package indeed. So question about his place in the team at your own peril, said Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.
“The place where he bats, is always tough to score. Because in such place you wouldn’t give you time to settle in and this is such a tricky place that either wickets starts falling or you need to score from the first ball. Even the big name of the world cricket couldn’t play successfully in such position. But look at Riyad. He has been doing his job in this position day by day,” said Mashrafe.
“He is a complete team man. He never complains about his position and even he never tries to say what position he likes. What the team wants, he just does that. And he is a natural leader. He comes up with brilliant ideas always. A Riyad is a priceless gift for Bangladesh,” the Tigers captain summed up.