Gemcon Khulna, the team of the Bangabandhu T20 Cup appointed Mahmudullah Riyad as their captain.
Mahmudullah was named as the captain despite Gemcon Khulna also having Shakib Al Hasan in their team. They in fact called Shakib’s name from the Grade A during players’ draft.
Mahmudullah indeed was not called up by any team in the first round when Grade A players were put up in the draft. Gemcon Khulna later called up him in the second round and got lucky to have two Grade A players in the team.
Mahmudullah was appointed Bangladesh T20 captain after Shakib Al Hasan was banned from cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC) due to his failure to report corrupt approaches from the bookies.
“We are delighted to be participating in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup with Gemcon Khulna. We are really excited to have both Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan in our team this year,” Kazi Inam Ahmed, Managing Director of Gemcon Sports said.
“Mahmudullah Riyad, the Bangladesh national T20 captain will be leading the Gemcon Khulna team as captain. He has previously led the Khulna Titans for three seasons with many successes in Bangladesh Premier League T20. We look forward to playing positive cricket with the goal to be champions in this prestigious tournament, he added.
Right-arm all-rounder Mahmudullah is delighted to be back in Gemcon Sports.
“I was tested Covid-19 negative yesterday so I am excited to be back on the field soon. I would like to thank Gemcon Khulna owner Kazi Inam Ahmed and the management team for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to lead Gemcon Khulna in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup. My association with Gemcon has been for a long time now having played with Khulna Titans in Bangladesh Premier League T20 for three years. So it is always good to be back with them as I feel it is my home team,” Mahmudullah Riyad said.
“Speaking of the team, I think we have a fantastic balance in the squad. Bowling wise we have a beautiful attack with Shafiul Islam, Al Amin Hossain and young Hasan Mahmud who are very much capable and we have seen that over the years. Shakib Al Hasan and Rishad Hossain are also there to add variety to the attack. I think we as team Gemcon Khulna have a wonderful chance to win the journey ahead,” he added.
“In batting department we had experienced campaigners in shape of Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Shakib, Jahurul Islam and myself. We have been playing for a while now so that the experience will give that depth to the lineup. Ariful Haque and Shuvagata Hom have played a lot of cricket as well. Overall I am happy with the team we have and hope we will be able to generate a good result. I am eagerly waiting to join team Gemcon Khulna and play some good cricket. I would like to thank Bangladesh Cricket Board for organising such an important tournament for us considering the Covid-19 situation. This tournament will surely benefit our cricketers,” Mahmudullah added.
Gemcon Khulna will start the tournament campaign taking on Fortune Barishal in the evening game on the opening day of the tournament.
Squad: Mahmudullah [captain], Shakib Al Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Hasan Mahmud, Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Shamim Patwary, Ariful Haque, Shafiul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Shahidul Islam, Rishad Hossain, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Islam Apu, Salman Hossain, Jahurul Islam.
