With two consecutive defeats to India and New Zealand, Bangladesh's early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 reignited the discussion about the performance of senior players like Mahmudullah Riyad and Mushfiqur Rahim, reports UNB.
Their repeated poor display in crucial games have raised serious questions about whether the team can afford to rely on them any longer.
Both Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur have nearly two decades of experience of playing top-tier cricket. They are expected to guide the team in pressure situations, but they have been regularly failing to deliver when the team needs them most.
In the recent New Zealand match they contributed only six runs together, leaving Bangladesh struggling to post a competitive total. Their dismissals were a result of poor shot selection, a pattern that has become all too familiar in major ICC events.
"I thought Mushfiq and Mahmudullah both were going to retire after the 2023 World Cup, but that didn't happen and I was very shocked," former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik was among those who expressed surprise at their continued selection.
Karthik believes keeping them on the side sends the wrong message to the younger bunch of the cricketers.
Another Indian star Wasim Jaffer, who has experience of coaching Bangladesh's young cricketers, was also disappointed seeing Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur going for poor shots in the Champions Trophy.
"Even the shot selection we've seen today was very disappointing. Mushfiq played that shot, and Mahmudullah played that wild shot. And this is a must-win game. You want them to step up in these kinds of games and make themselves count," Jaffer said recently.
Mahmudullah will celebrate his 40th birthday next year, while Mushfiqur stands at 38 now. Both have illustrious careers, but their recent performances indicate a decline. Mushfiqur scored only 184 runs in the last season of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), while Mahmudullah also failed to prove his experience in recent matches.
Bangladesh's former captain Mohammad Ashraful thinks the Champions Trophy would have been a great stage for Mahmdullah and Mushfiqur to retire. He even said it would have been better for them to retire after the 2023 World Cup.
"If Mahmudullah had retired after the 2023 World Cup, he would have received immense respect," Ashraful said.
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