Bangladesh want to keep series hope alive

Bangladesh are prepared to remain alive in Mahmudullah’s last T20I series as they take on India in the second game of the ongoing three-match series at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium in Delhi today.

The former T20I skipper, who played announced his retirement from the shorter format after the third game of the series during the pre-match press conference in Delhi ahead of their crucial game.

“I am retiring from T20 cricket after the last game of this series. I was pre-decided before coming here,” said Mahmudullah, whose retirement did not come as a surprise after it was speculated in all the media on 7 October evening.

“I had a chat with my family. I spoke to the coach [Chandika Hathurusingha], captain [Najmul Hossain], chief selector [Gazi Ashraf Hossain] and the board president [Faruque Ahmed] as well. I think it is the right time to move on from this format for me and the team,” he said.

“Especially with the World Cup (ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026) coming up in less than two years. I will concentrate on the one-day game,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh would be eyeing an improved performance to deny a further Indian juggernaut when they take on the hosts in the second game as a defeat in the second match would ruin Bangladesh's all hopes to win the series, a target that they set ahead of leaving the country.

Bangladesh were humiliated by the Indians in the first game of the series when the hosts beat them by seven wickets with 49 balls to spare to give them a reality check for the remaining two games.

In T20 Internationals too, Bangladesh's record against India is vulnerable as they now lost 14 out of 15. But the only victory that they secured came in Delhi, which will host the second T20 game in this series.

The memory of Delhi could inspire them to keep the series alive and Mahmudullah insisted that they need to come out from the trauma of the opening game.

“As a bowling unit, I will say the variety we have both in our pace and spin department, they've been doing a wonderful job for the past few years. I think our batting wasn't good in the last match, and our bowling too wasn't that good. I think it would be unfair to put doubts based on that one match. I think we have to come out of our zone and try to win the game,” the veteran cricketer added.