Mahmudullah names his replacement as finisher

Mahmudullah Riyad believes Bangladesh are blessed with several young guns who can replace him as the finisher in the T20 format.

The 38-year-old allrounder announced his retirement from this format on Tuesday, saying that the third and final T20 against India in Hyderabad will be his last. He, however, is keen to continue the ODI cricket.

"Jaker Ali Anik, Shamim Patwari, Afif Hossain and Yasir Ali Chowdhury Rabbi can be good choices at No. 6 or 7," he said, replying to a query about his possible replacement.

"It is not easy to bat there in T20Is. You have to be brave. You can't think about failure."

At the start of his career, Mahmudullah was not a big hitter, but his perseverance and hard work evolved him as the best finisher of the country in this format.

During his first stint as Bangladesh coach, Chandika Hathurusinghe had given him the role of a finisher and he didn't back out to take up the challenge. He added more aerial shots to his repertoire and with a lot of practice made him unparalleled as a finisher.

He urged the coach and management to be patient with the youngsters who will try to fill his shoes in the coming days.

 "In T20 cricket, you need to go out there and hit the ball as hard as you can. But coach and captain has to back the batter in that position," he remarked.