Mahmudullah Riyad tested positive for COVID-19; to miss PSL

Mahmudullah Riyad, the Bangladesh all-rounder, was tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The 34-year-old cricketer was set to play for the Multan Sultans in the playoffs for the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was scheduled to board the flight to Pakistan via Dubai on Sunday, November 8 at 10 am, but he ended up going into isolation.

He has also become uncertain for the Bangabandhu T20 Cup, which is set to get underway on November 21 or 22. The drafts for the tournament is set to take centre-stage on Thursday, November 12. Mahmudullah, along with Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s all-time leading run-scorer, were called up as replacement options in the games in Karachi.

Even as Mahmudullah’s campaign ended, as per reports in BDcrictime, Tamim will be leaving for Pakistan on November 10 via the Emirates Airlines. The Chittagong-born Tamim would be playing for the Lahore Qalandars, who made the PSL playoffs for the first time after finishing at the bottom of the points table in the first four editions of the T20 tournament.

PSL playoffs to start on November 14

Tamim was roped in for Australia’s Chris Lynn, who was an important member of the Qalandars, scoring a century in the league stage. As far as Mahmudullah was concerned, his team became the champions in the BCB president’s cup- a tournament where the Bangladesh cricketers returned to competitive cricket amidst the global coronavirus pandemic.

In the three games, the right-hander got scores of 11, 67 and 23* and picked up a solitary wicket in the last match. The PSL playoffs get underway on Saturday, November 14 with the match between Peshawar Zalmi and the Qalandars in the Eliminator. The league matches took place in February-March and the event had to be postponed before the semi-finals.

Apart from Mahmudullah, a number of Bangladesh players have gotten under the stranglehold of the COVID-19. Former captain Mashrafe Mortaza, Abu Jayed Rahi, Nafees Iqbal, Nazmul Islam Apu fell prey to the virus. However, to their relief, they recovered from the same.

In the meantime, all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, whose suspension ended last month, was tested negative for the virus. The southpaw was staying with his wife Umme Ahmed Shishir and children in the United States of America (USA). On Friday, November 6, the 33-year-old returned to Bangladesh.