Asia Cup 2023: "After A Long Discussion..." - Bangladesh Chief Selector Opens Up On Mahmudullah's Exclusion

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Minhajul Abedin opened up on Mahmudullah’s exclusion from Asia Cup 2023 squad and said that the decision was taken after a long discussion.

While speaking in a press conference at the BCB Headquarters, Abedin said that long discussions were held on how the Bangla Tigers will approach the opponents in the Asia Cup, and after that, the decision was made to omit Mahmudullah from the squad.

“We had a long discussion regarding Mahmudullah initially. After a long discussion, the team management gave us a plan entailing how they want to approach each teams [in the Asia Cup]. Riyad has been left out after considering all these scenarios,” Abedin said, as quoted by the Daily Star.

Abedin also revealed that the decision was made after a thorough meeting with the Bangladesh skipper, Shakib Al Hasan.

“We thought the planning that the team management gave was obviously good as they have a plan with the head coach regarding how to go about things with the team. We had a proper discussion about everything. We also discussed it with the skipper,” Abedin added.

Asia Cup 2023 crucial for Bangladesh

Asia Cup 2023 will begin on Wednesday (August 30) and Bangladesh will start their journey against Sri Lanka on Thursday (August 31) at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka. The match will kick off at 1:00 PM IST.

The last time Bangladesh played an ODI series, they lost it against Afghanistan by 2-1. In the last ODI match, Shakib Al Hasan’s side won the game by seven wickets to save their faces from being white-washed.

Asia Cup 2023 will be crucial for them to check the team combination before the upcoming World Cup in India.

After the upcoming Asia Cup, Bangladesh will play a three-match ODI series against New Zealand from September 21st, which will assist the team management to understand the team’s performance.

Then, India’s neighboring country will travel to the host nation of the ODI World Cup 2023 and will start their voyage on October 7 against Afghanistan. Bangladesh will square off against India on October 19th at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Mahmudullah-less Bangladesh squad in Asia Cup 2023

Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Mohammad Naim