DHAKA, Nov 12, 2023 (BSS)-Amid a highly disappointing World Cup journey,
Mahmudullah Riyad ended as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for Bangladesh.

The Tiger finished the event with just two wins out of nine matches, making
it their worst ever World Cup since 2007. But Mahmudullah, who was just
included in the World Cup squad due to the other players' failure, held his
head high amid the side's disappointing outing.

He played eight matches and scored 328 runs at a respectable average of
54.66, comfortably the highest amongst the Bangladeshi batter. His strike
rate was also a commendable 91.62, just second highest behind Tanzid Hasan
Tamim's 95.39.

But what made it special for Riyad is that he is the only centurion for
Bangladesh in this edition. And with two tons in 2015, Riyad now has three
World Cup centuries, also highest for Bangladesh. Shakib Al Hasan with two
centuries, both of which came in 2019 World Cup, is in the second in the
ladder.

Liton Das finished second with 284 runs and his 284 is highest for any
Bangladeshi opener in the World Cup history. But still this is considered as
failure as the teams had high hopes on him. He struck two half-centuries.
Vice captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is in the third position with 222 runs,
followed by Mushfiqur Rahim (202) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (201). There are
only five batters of Bangladesh who went past 200 runs in this World Cup.

Shakib Al Hasan who had a record breaking World Cup campaign in 2019,
finished at sixth with 186 runs. Shakib was the third highest run-getter in
the last World Cup with 606 runs and his 11 wickets made him the one and only
player in World Cup history with 500 plus runs and 10 plus wickets. But he
was shadow of himself in this World Cup.

Shakib's off form was key in Bangladesh's poor World Cup show.

Off spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz and left arm pacer Shoriful Islam were the
joint highest wicket-taker for Bangladesh in this World Cup with 10 wickets.
Miraz played nine matches while Shoriful played eight.

Shakib Al Hasan took nine wickets in seven matches while Mahedi Hasan claimed
six in three matches. The biggest disappointment in bowling department was
Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed who took five wickets each playing eight
and seven matches respectively. Shoriful though took 10 wickets, his impact
and effectiveness were highly low. In fact all Bangladesh bowlers, sans
Shakib, could not make any impact in any game. Shakib's three-wicket haul
against Afghanistan in the first match was a match-winning performance.