'He comes forward when the team needs runs' - Mashrafe Mortaza feels Mahmudullah is more like VVS Laxman

Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has lauded Mahmudullah for always playing for the team in his career. The latter’s presence in the team was a controversial topic during the World Cup and recently as well due to his bad form. But Mortaza always backed him when he was at the helm and has now compared Mahmudullah with India’s VVS Laxman.

The legendary Bangladesh cricketer went live on Facebook with his teammate and the opener Tamim Iqbal. The duo opened up regarding various aspects of the game and also spoke about the current situation across the world due to the Coronavirus pandemic. When it came to Mahmudullah’s topic, the latter felt that the batsman never gets the credits he deserves.

Rather Tamim also thanked Mashrafe Mortaza for always standing by the middle-order batsman during the tough times. This is when Mortaza pointed out that Mahmudullah is more like former India cricketer Laxman who always gets the runs when the team is in trouble.

“Mahmudullah is a lot like VVS Laxman. He doesn’t get runs, when it’s not needed. But when the team needs runs, he’s the person who always comes forward,” he said.

Mahmudullah could’ve easily scored 7-8k runs, feels Mashrafe Mortaza

Moreover, the 36-year-old also went on to say that Mahmudullah’s career statistics would’ve been better if he had batted at four or five. But he always came down the order in the interest of the team. Mahmudullah has scored 4070 in 188 ODIs at an average of 33.6 with three tons and 21 half-centuries. Besides, he has also played 49 Tests (2764 runs at 31.8) and 87 T20Is (1475 runs at 24.2) for Bangladesh.

Mortaza also claimed that the 34-year-old could’ve easily scored more than 7000 runs by now in his ODI career. But the fact that he gets less deliveries to bat hasn’t made it possible. “He’s such a cricketer if he could have batted at four or five, his statistics would have been better. But in the interest of the team, we make him bat at 6. Today, there could’ve been 7-8 thousand runs next to his name. But he had to play for the team, Mortaza further added.