Mahmudullah finishes as Bangladesh’s fourth-highest run-getter, behind Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal, with 5689 runs at an average of 36.46, including four hundreds and 32 fifties. His retirement comes a week after Mushfiqur, his long-time team-mate and brother in law, had also retired from ODIs.

On Monday, when the BCB informed in its press release that Mahmudullah had requested that the board not consider him in the central contracts list after February 2025, it was seen as a sign of impending retirement.

All of Mahmudullah’s centuries came in ICC tournaments. After scoring two hundreds in the 2015 ODI World Cup, he made an unbeaten 102 against New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy in Cardiff.  More recently, in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, he scored 111 against South Africa in Mumbai.

The ODI retirements of Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur come after Bangladesh suffered an early exit in the 2025 Champions Trophy. Mahmudullah played just one innings, managing 4 off 14 balls against New Zealand in Rawalpindi. Mahmudullah’s form in the lead-up to the tournament, though, was excellent: he had scored four ODI fifties in a row, against Afghanistan and West Indies, away from home late last year.

Mahmudullah made his ODI debut in 2007 as a utility player, batting mostly at No. 7 and bowling offspin. His first turning point came in the 2011 World Cup agsinst England, when he added an unbroken 58 for the ninth wicket with Shafiul Islam to guide Bangladesh to a two-wicket win. In the following year, his unbeaten fifties helped Bangladesh to a 3-2 ODI series win against West Indies.

He enjoyed more success in the 2015 World Cup, when he struck centuries against England and New Zealand in successive matches while batting at No. 3. His hundred against New Zealand in the 2017 Champions Trophy, in a 223-run stand with Shakib, is an iconic innings in Bangladesh cricket history.

Mahmudullah made a comeback ahead of the 2023 World Cup after he had been dropped from the side. He also proved his value with the ball, taking 82 wickets at an economy rate of 5.21. Mahmudullah never led Bangladesh in ODIs, though he had captained them in T20Is and Test cricket.

Mahmudullah’s retirement brings the curtain down on Bangladesh’s most successful quintet of cricketers who played between 2006 and 2025 in white-ball cricket.

Apart from Mahmudullah, Tamim reconfirmed his retirement from international cricket earlier this year. Shakib had announced his Test and T20I retirement in India last year, while also informing at the time that the Champions Trophy would be his last ODI assignment. Having missed the tournament due to various reasons, his ODI career now seems finished, too.

Mashrafe Mortaza last played ODIs in 2020, when he also signed off from captaincy. Mushfiqur has retired from ODIs and T20Is, but is in line to become the first Bangladesh cricketer to reach the 100-Test landmark.

[Cricinfo]

Going by this WPL’s trends, what could possibly decide the match will be Giants’ middle overs, when they will be looking to press the pedal but will be up against the mighty bowling of Mumbai – the best bowling side in that phase. Amelia Kerr, their star bowler in the middle overs, might have leaked plenty of runs on Tuesday, but had all the catches been taken off her bowling her figures might have been different. Her ability to excel under pressure – as was seen in the T20 World Cup last year – could be on display again on Thursday.

Going into the toss, both captains would be relieved to know which way the coin falls might not matter too much: while teams have still been opting to chase, the tide has turned at the end of the league stage with teams batting first winning the last three games. Before that, only two games had been won batting first out of 17.

While Mumbai will be eyeing their second final in three years after losing to RCB in the eliminator last year, the onus is on Giants to not make this year’s final match-up a repeat of what we saw in 2023.

Both teams went unchanged into their last league games but will be concerned about their opening combinations. If Giants haven’t found anyone to partner Mooney, Mumbai’s strategy to promote Kerr to the top hasn’t worked in three attempts.

Gujarat Giants (probable):  Beth Mooney (wk),  Kashvee Gautam,  Harleen Deol,  Ashleigh Gardner (capt),  Phoebe Lichfield,  Deandra Dottin,  Bharti Fulmali,  Simran Shaikh,  Tanuja Kanwar,  Meghna Singh,  Priya Mishra

Mumbai Indians (probable):  Hayley Matthews,  Amelia Kerr,  Nat Sciver-Brunt,  Harmanpreet Kaur (capt),  Amanjot Kaur,  Yastika Bhatia (wk),  G Kamalini,  S Sajana,  Sanskriti Gupta,  Shabnim Ismail,  Parunika Sisodia