Mahmudullah all set to retire from T20Is after India series

Veteran Bangladesh batsman Mahmudullah Riyad is reportedly set to bring down the curtains on his T20I career. The ongoing three-match T20I series between India and Bangladesh is likely to be his last T20I assignment for his national side.

An announcement from the right-handed batsman is imminent. According to a report in Bangladeshi news outlet The Daily Star, he could announce his retirement on Tuesday (October 8) while addressing the media in the pre-match press conference.

The report stated that the middle-order batsman has already informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) about his decision. A BCB official told the news outlet that Mahmudullah Riyad is not willing to take any break from T20Is and has made up his mind to retire from the format.

"It's not a break, he wants to bring an end to the T20I chapter. He is supposed to announce it in this series," the BCB official told The Daily Star.

He has also informed the Bangladesh team about his decision. The report stated that the 38-year-old had communicated his desire to retire from T20Is to the team before the start of the three-match series.

His place in the T20I side has been questioned for quite some time now. With Bangladesh struggling in the format, there have been calls to bring in more youngsters in order to change the approach of the team. Before the first T20I against India, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto also talked about the new approach, saying:

"From this series, you will see our players trying to play with a new approach."

Shanto had also spoken about the veteran, saying: "This is a very important series for him [Mahmudullah] and maybe he will be in talks with the selectors, I am not too clear on that. But I feel that obviously there will be a discussion with the selectors and the board."

Mahmudullah Riyad's last T20I series?

During the same press conference, Shanto was also asked if the ongoing series was Mahmudullah's last assignment for Bangladesh in the shortest format of the game. In reply, the Bangladesh captain stated that he did not want to focus on it before the start of the series.

"We haven't gone into any discussions about it. Going forward, let's see if it [discussion] happens. I don't want to get into this discussion before the start of a series," Shanto had said.

The veteran has been under pressure for quite some time now. In this year's T20 World Cup, he failed to impress. In 7 games, he managed to score a modest 95 runs at a strike rate of just 94. The pressure only increased after his poor outing in the first T20I against India. He was out for just 1 run as India thrashed Bangladesh by seven wickets.

Mahmudullah has played 139 T20Is so far, more than any other player from his country. He has scored 2395 runs with the help of eight half-centuries.