Mahmudullah reflects essence of Bangladesh

If you like an underdog character in an underdog story, Mahmudullah is your man. He rode through a lot of criticism, tested the establishment's faith, survived a bit of fortune, worked hard to lose some weight in the last two years and it culminated in him becoming Bangladesh's first World Cup centurion. It was apt that the record went to a batsman who needed a big score on a big occasion.

Tamim Iqbal and Anamul Haque had publicly stated they wanted the honour. Tamim missed out against Scotland by five runs while Anamul had to be withdrawn due to a shoulder injury. Mushfiqur Rahim is now the batting leader. Shakib Al Hasan the best allrounder in the world. In his 114th ODI, Mahmudullah needed this century more than any of Bangladesh's top order players.

From 8 for 2 in the third over, Mahmudullah held off James Anderson and Stuart Broad, who looked to be recovering from a lacklustre campaign. He rode his luck, provided stability at one end and looked after Soumya Sarkar when he played a couple of bad shots. They put on 86 runs for the third wicket and to a player like Soumya, only five ODIs old and in the middle of a high-pressure match, those mid-pitch talks are likely to stick for a long time.

It is said when Shakib falls early, Bangladesh lose half the battle. Mahmudullah debunked that, adding 141 runs for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur. He reached fifty off 69 balls, with three fours and a slapped six over midwicket. He maintained that pace and reached his maiden ODI hundred from the next 62 balls, with four more boundaries and another six. Mahmudullah ended up on 103 off 138 balls, substance on a big occasion he has treasured for long.

He slowed down after getting his century, but this was the tenacious Mahmudullah England know all too well. He was there to turn around a hopeless chase in the 2011 World Cup and ensure Bangladesh won by two wickets in Chittagong. The difference was he was a late-order spare batsman then, only necessary when the top and middle order failed.

The last time we saw as big a smile in Mahmudullah's face was when he led the team in a Gangnam jig, following Bangladesh's 3-2 series win over West Indies in 2012. It was against West Indies again that he turned a corner in 2014. Later, he struck two smooth fifties against Zimbabwe and at the start of the World Cup, made sure an early wicket against Scotland didn't bother Bangladesh's chase.

But things hadn't gone quite so well in between. Mahmudullah averaged 34 and 26 in 2013 and 2014 (6.40 and 38.18 in Tests) during this time.

At his best, Mahmudullah is a stylist. When out of form, he gropes and flounders. Within 12 months, he was stripped of his vice-captaincy, dropped once and was suspected of favoritism due to his relation with then captain Mushfiqur. There was no end to the vitriol and even the BCB president was getting impatient. He was dropped ahead of the Asia Cup, which drew the ire of Mushfiqur, who never openly backed Mahmudullah without cricketing reasons.

An injury in the team brought Mahmudullah back, but he still wasn't convincing in the regional 50-over tournament and the ODI series against India and West Indies.

Mahmudullah was lucky to have lots of faith from Bangladesh set-up more luck, in tangible form, came in St Vincent in September last year. On the fourth day of the first Test against West Indies, when Bangladesh were trying to avoid a disaster, Mahmudullah scored his first Test fifty after 21 months. But within minutes, he pulled across the line and skied the ball and began to walk off, his head bowed. Kirk Edwards dropped the catch, he batted a little longer to repay the faith.

He came back home, worked hard with trainer Mario Villavarayan to shed some pounds and continued his good run leading up to the World Cup. His celebration was evidence that Mahmudullah is not one without emotion. The last time he scored a century before this game was in a domestic first-class match in May last year. After reaching the three-figure mark he threw a hissy fit at his own team management and was banned for three matches.

Shakib is perhaps the first superstar of Bangladesh cricket. But Mahmudullah, in essence, is Bangladesh. Much derided, riding on a bit of luck but operating on faith. He has paid it back, and with this win, so has Bangladesh.