MS Dhoni has been a great influence in my cricket arena, reveals Mahmudullah

It was under the 34-year-old’s captaincy that Bangladesh won their first-ever T20I against Kohli and co in T20I cricket, in Delhi last year. While the Tigers were stunningly close to a victory against the hosts in the 2016 edition of the T20 World Cup, their late charge fell flat with India pulling off the improbable victory, thanks to an unlikely hero with the ball, Hardik Pandya. 

However, since then, a lot of personnel changes, including Mahmudullah being made skipper, has propelled the Asian side’s charge in T20I cricket. The all-rounder, who was handed a partial contract by the BCB at the start of the year, has now revealed that it's MS Dhoni who has been a great influence in his cricket arena. 

“It is not easy having 50 plus average in ODI cricket for so many matches and having a strike rate of 90 plus, it’s amazing and the way he controls the game till the last, similarly I also have to bat at five-six so I try to learn these things from him. He’s been a great influence in my cricket arena,” the all-rounder said in a chat with CricFrenzy, reported Indian Express. 

On the other hand, another aspect that Mahmudullah has picked up from the former Indian skipper is batting in the middle-order. The 34-year-old talked about Dhoni’s influence on controlling himself, and revealed that he's learnt a thing or two from how the 39-year-old composes himself during the game. 

“I’m a huge fan of MS Dhoni, the way he controls himself. He also batted at five-six for the India team and whenever I sit idle I try to watch his innings, even watch live games of his. And try to learn how he composes himself in the game,” Mahmudullah concluded.