Nazmul Hassan has dismissed the reports that Mahmudullah Riyad would be flown back home from Sri Lanka because of his form being horrible.

Mahmudullah is a very senior player of Bangladesh and has been a pillar in their batting order over a length of time, but, his test match stats have not been quite up to the standard of late and that’s why, he was unlikely to be picked in the XI for the next match in Colombo.

But, a statement came out of the Bangladesh camp yesterday that Mahmudullah was not just out of the contention for Colombo match, he would actually be leaving the tour altogether and would be on the plane to Bangladesh pretty soon.

When Hassan, who is heading the Bangladesh board, was asked about it, he gave the impression that he had no idea of it at all and that he was hearing it for the first time from the media only.

As per Hassan, Mahmudullah’s sacking from the coming test match is okay on the basis of his form, but, there are 50-over matches to be played on Sri Lanka tour as well and the right hander is a certainty for those matches. So, there’s no reason why he should be returning home.

Hassan said if the player himself wants to meet his family and relax before the ODIs and then travel to Bangladesh with the limited-over specialists, it’s okay, but, if it’s not the case and the player has actually been told to return, he will have to talk to the management regarding that because it doesn’t come under their authority to decide who will come in and who will go out in the middle of a tour and before making decisions on any such matters, they need to contact the board first.