Mahmudullah: I am up for taking part in both Asia Cup and World T20

Bangladesh T20 captain and all-rounder Mahmudullah was confident that both Asia Cup and 2020 World T20 will go ahead as planned this year in spite of the global travel ban caused by Coronavirus pandemic. The International Cricket Council (ICC) as well as the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) held meetings over video-conference to discuss how World T20 and Asia Cup T20 can go ahead as scheduled this year.

The Asia Cup which is set to be held in September and possibly in Sri Lanka in place of original hosts Pakistan. Mahmudullah is supposed to lead the side in both tournaments.

“We are still unsure about the Asia Cup Twenty20 and Twenty20 World Cup because there are still a lot of things to be measured and a lot of decisions to be made regarding the tournaments,” Mahmudullah was quoted as saying by Bangladesh’s New Age newspaper.

“We are still waiting for the green signal from ICC. But if you ask me, I am very much up for it and I think every cricketer wants to be part of such tournaments like Asia Cup and T20 World Cup,” the Bangladesh all-rounder added.

Mahmudullah says Bangladesh want to play in both tournaments

Mahmudullah felt that both the tournaments could be organised but if not possible, then a revised schedule should be brought out soon.

“I hope the tournaments would happen on time. If not, then we could still wait a bit longer. But we want to play in these tournaments as they are highly prestigious,” the Bangladesh T20 captain said.

Mahmudullah was even ready to stay in quarantine if that meant that both these top tournament can be held.

“I think it’s quite obvious that when you go to the host country of the tournament you will have to stay in quarantine just to make sure that everyone is healthy and fine,” Mahmudullah, who has played in 87 T20s for Bangladesh so far, said.

“I think that’s been a procedure in this corona affected time to ensure that you and everyone surrounding you are safe. So we have to stay in quarantine so that everyone is safe and healthy,” the 34-year-old said.

Mahmudullah was also happy with the interim changes introduced by the ICC to make competitive cricket possible post the Coronavirus lockdown.

“I think that is a necessary positive step towards playing cricket, I really appreciate it. There are a lot of other things ICC has given a guideline on, we all have to maintain those rules as well,” Mahmudullah said.

The fate of T20 World Cup still hangs in the balance with both ICC and Cricket Australia (CA) work overtime to try and ensure that the tournament is held as per schedule -- October 18 to November 15 – in Australia.