Mahmudullah Riyad has frequently been the linchpin in Bangladesh's cricketing triumphs. Time and again, he has been the redeemer, steering Bangladesh away from potential collapses. Yet, cricket can be unforgiving at times. Even skilled batsmen can succumb to the caprices of fortune, ending up among the less fortunate.
On Friday’s T20 World Cup Super Eight match, Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins achieved a hat-trick. He claimed wickets with the final two deliveries of the 18th over and the initial ball of the 20th over, constituting the tournament's inaugural hat-trick.
Mahmudullah was the initial casualty in Cummins' consecutive wicket-taking spree. In the 18th over, he misjudged a pull shot to a short ball outside the off-stump, resulting in dragging the ball back onto his stumps. Mehedi Hasan and Towhid Hridoy were subsequently dismissed by Cummins in the following deliveries.
This marks the sixth occasion Mahmudullah has been part of a hat-trick in international cricket, a misfortune not shared by any other batsman. In essence, Mahmudullah has been involved in hat-tricks the greatest number of times in international cricket—thrice in T20s, twice in ODIs, and once in a Test match.
