Mahmudullah dropped for second Test, to fly home

Bangladesh have decided to not play allrounder Mahmudullah in the second Test against Sri Lanka, team manager Khaled Mahmud has said.

The Test, which begins on March 15 in Colombo, will be Bangladesh`s 100th - given this would be an emotional, landmark occasion, it was decided not to keep a high-profile, senior player sitting on the bench, Mahmud said, and so Mahmudullah will fly home on the eve of the game.

Mahmudullah made scores of 8 and 0 in Bangladesh`s loss in Galle, and bowled just two overs of his offspin. He had made a half-century in the one-off Test in India before this, but before that had gone ten innings without getting to a fifty.

He was at the ground with the team at practice today and took part in the warm-ups, but did not train thereafter.

Mahmud said it is not yet decided if Mahmudullah will return for the three ODIs and two T20s that follow, but that remains a possibility. The Colombo Test, at the P Sara Oval, is the final long-format match of the series.

Source: ESPNcricinfo