Mahmudullah sets his sights on tri-series

Mahmudullah, the Bangladesh middle-order batsman, is hoping to make a return to the one-day side for the tri-nation series in January following an impressive run on the domestic circuit.

Mahmudullah was dropped from the one-day squad after Bangladesh's series loss to New Zealand at home in October. He scored eight runs and was wicketless in the two ODIs he played and went back to first-class cricket after being overlooked for the tour of South Africa. He is currently second on the National Cricket League's run-scorer's list with 710 from nine matches, including four hundreds and a half-century, for Dhaka Division.

"After the ODI series against New Zealand, I got back to the nets and made sure I trained harder," Mahmudullah told Bangladesh's Daily Star. "I started well [in the National Cricket League] but had a struggle in the next few matches. The last three or four matches have been really great. I scored four hundreds and I have enjoyed each of them."

He said his favourite hundred of the season was the one against Barisal Division in Mirpur. Chasing a target of 216, Dhaka were nearly out of the game at 95 for 8 before Mahmudullah added 124 runs with Elias Sunny to give his side a two-wicket win. "We needed a lot of runs for victory and again I made sure I finished it."

Mahmudullah, yet to make his Test debut, said not being selected for the Tests against South Africa made him determined to score more runs in the domestic game. He said it didn't matter what format of the game he was picked for, as long as he got to play for Bangladesh. "The format of the game is not an issue for me but to play for Bangladesh, that's what makes me tick."