Mahmudullah

National Team: Bangladesh National Cricket Team ( TEST ODI T20I )

Domestic Team: Minister Dhaka ( T20 )

Domestic Team: Chattogram Challengers

Date of Birth: 04.02.1986

Batting Style: Right Hand

Role: All-rounder

Bowling Style: Right-Arm Off Spin

Batting

Pos. Score

Bowling

Pos. Score

All-rounder

Pos. Score

Test Rankings

45 540

84 205

34 110

ODI Rankings

37 571

175 216

62 123

T20I Rankings

28 530

214 196

22 103

Mahmudullah – Professional Bangladesh All-Rounder

Mahmudullah is a Bangladeshi professional all-round cricketer of international caliber. He is one of the most successful captains in the history of Bangladesh’s national T20I team, having led them to 16 wins. He also became the first Bangladeshi player to score back-to-back centuries in a single ICC Cricket World Cup campaign (2015). And that is far from the full list of what this gifted athlete has pulled off – we will cover those achievements and much more besides in this short piece.

Mahmudullah: Biography and Sporting Career

Mahmudullah (full name: Mohammad Mahmudullah Riyad) was born on February 4, 1986, in Mymensingh, a city in northern Bangladesh, into a middle-income family. His parents – Mohammad Obaidullah Nabab, a civil servant, and Arafat Begum, a homemaker – were determined to give their children a proper education, so at first his passion for cricket was not particularly encouraged and was seen more as a hobby than a serious path. Everything changed thanks to his elder brother, Emdad Ullah. He not only introduced Riyad to cricket and became his first coach but later also managed to convince their parents not to stand in the way of his brother’s sporting career. In one of his Facebook posts, Mahmudullah, while thanking his loved ones, especially highlighted the role of his elder brother:

“A big thank you to my parents, my in-laws especially my father-in-law & most importantly my brother Emdad Ullah, who has been there for me constantly since my childhood as my coach & mentor”.

Mahmudullah learned the basics of cricket in his hometown of Mymensingh through school and street games before, at his brother’s insistence, enrolling at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protistha (BKSP), the country’s leading sports institute. Around the same time, fourteen-year-old Riyad received a call-up to the national side for the ACC Under-15 Trophy. For a teenager whose experience had been limited, by and large, to school cricket in Mymensingh, competing internationally in Malaysia was a serious test. But Mahmudullah handled it with surprising maturity. In particular, in a match against the hosts, he scored 62 runs as a batter and took 1 wicket as a bowler.

After returning home, Riyad continued his development in Dhaka until, in 2004, he was invited to London to take part in the prestigious MCC Young Cricketers program. For a young player from Bangladesh, that was the cricket equivalent of getting a call from the academy of Manchester City or Barcelona. Once back home, Mahmudullah’s career really took off. In the 2004/05 season, he made his first-class debut for local side Dhaka Division, and during the same period he played his first unofficial Test for Bangladesh A against Zimbabwe, where he impressed with solid knocks of 55 and 42.

Mahmudullah burst onto the international scene in 2007. In his very first ODI against Sri Lanka in July 2007, he immediately showed his value by scoring 36 runs and taking one wicket. That performance helped him lock in a place in Bangladesh’s squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 later that year, where he made his first appearance against Kenya. But his most eye-catching start came in July 2009 against the West Indies: Mahmudullah became only the second Bangladeshi player in history to take a five-wicket haul in an innings on Test debut, producing a superb 5/51 in the second innings – a performance that proved crucial in Bangladesh’s first-ever away victory in Test cricket.

We will not retell the cricketer’s entire long career, as the format of this article simply does not allow for that, so instead let us focus only on its brightest highlights:

• 2010 – scored his maiden Test century (115) against New Zealand in Hamilton; became only the second player in Test cricket history (after New Zealander John Reid) to achieve a unique triple feat in a single Test match: a century, a five-wicket haul, and a stumping;
• 2012, 2016, 2018 – finished as an Asia Cup runner-up three times with the Bangladesh national team;
• 2015 – made history as the first Bangladeshi to score two centuries (115 and 103) in a single ICC Cricket World Cup edition;
• 2017 – produced a match-winning century (102*) against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy, sending Bangladesh into an ICC tournament semi-final for the first time in history;
• 2021 – in his farewell Test against Zimbabwe, he set a personal record with 150;
• 2023 – at the World Cup in India, at the age of 37, he was his team’s standout performer, scoring 111 against South Africa.

On March 12, 2025, Mahmudullah officially announced his retirement from international cricket in all formats. His departure marked the end of the “Panch Pandav” era, the five pillars of Bangladeshi cricket, with only Shakib Al Hasan still remaining in the mix. Despite his age (40), the player continues to compete at regional level – and, it has to be said, he is still doing a pretty fine job of it. In the current Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) season, representing Rangpur Riders, Riyad has already chalked up a half-century (51 off 40 balls) in a match against Dhaka Capitals.

In his recent interviews, Riyad noted that he still feels the hunger for the game and plans to keep playing in domestic tournaments, such as the Dhaka Premier Division, as well as for overseas franchises, for as long as his health allows.

Mahmudullah at 2014 ICC World Twenty20

Mahmudullah: Personal Life and Interesting Facts

Although Mahmudullah’s sporting achievements are widely known, relatively little is public about his personal life. Riyad is married to Jannatul Kawsar Mishti. Their wedding took place on June 25, 2011, in Dhaka and was attended by many well-known cricketers. The couple have two sons: the elder, Raeed, and the younger, Mayed.

To wrap things up, here is a small подборка of interesting facts about the athlete along with his playing stats:

• Mahmudullah is the brother-in-law of another famous Bangladeshi cricketer, Mushfiqur Rahim: Rahim’s wife is the younger sister of Mahmudullah’s wife, Mishti;
• The athlete holds an MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree from the American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), which he earned in 2023;
• Riyad is known for his calm and modest personality, which is why fans often call him the “Silent Killer”;
• He serves as a USAID goodwill ambassador in Bangladesh, and more recently there have been rumors about the launch of his own charitable organization, the Mahmudullah Foundation;
• Mahmudullah is a deeply devout Muslim and often goes on pilgrimage.

Unlike many sports stars, Mahmudullah lives a fairly private life and rarely becomes the subject of tabloids or scandals. His social media accounts (Instagram – @mohammad_mahmudullah, Facebook – @Mahmudullah Riyad, and X (Twitter) – @Mahmudullah30) are mainly devoted either to cricket or to occasional family moments and expressions of gratitude to God.