As Bangladesh landed in Kingstown for their final group stage games against the Netherlands and Nepal, it must have brought back some memories for Mahmudullah. Good ones.
The same, though, can be said about the Arnos Vale Ground too. Bangladesh were the last overseas team to play a men鈥檚 international game there when they faced the West Indies in a Test in 2014.
Since then, for almost a decade, the stadium has been deprived of international cricket, a streak that is set to be broken today.
For Mahmudullah, though, this ground will bring back many memories. This is where he made his Test debut and, in the second innings, picked up a five-wicket haul to guide Bangladesh to their first-ever Test win over the Caribbeans, albeit the team was a second-string one following a strike from the leading West Indies players.
However, the second bout might have been more memorable for the now veteran.
In yet another Test series, Mahmudullah arrived in Kingstown without a fifty in 23 innings, and his place in the team was in serious doubt.
Once again, in the second innings, he reprieved himself, scoring 66, and in the end, his Test career lasted seven more years before ending in 2021.
This time, Mahmudullah arrives in Kingstown with a bittersweet World Cup so far in his kitty. In their first match in Dallas, Mahmudullah hit a six while needing 11 to guide Bangladesh to a win against Sri Lanka in their opening game of the tournament.
In the second game, with six runs to get against South Africa off the last two balls, Mahmudullah almost got Bangladesh to shore but fell just a metre or so short to get dismissed, resulting in a four-run defeat.
The journey to these bittersweet days, though, has been a long one for the 38-year-old. He was dropped from both limited-overs formats but came back through persistence and has found a new level of batting with attacking intent, something that was lacking when he was axed.
That new level will be required when Mahmudullah takes the field today, as a win against the Netherlands would pave the Tigers鈥� path to the Super Eight, and in that process, Bangladesh will look to their other veteran with experience in Kingstown 鈥� Shakib Al Hasan.
When the last international match took place there, Shakib was banned and had to watch his team concede defeat. Five years before that, in the game that Mahmudullah picked up his five-for, Shakib was thrust into Test captaincy after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was injured in-game. That time, Shakib took on the responsibility and guided his team home before winning the second Test and sealing the series.
This time around, Shakib has arrived in Kingstown with a severe form-drought suffocating him and allowing questions over his place in the XI to peep through.
Like Mahmudullah in 2014, Shakib will have to produce something at Kingstown.
The same Kingstown where they made history by beating the West Indies.
The situation, though, could not have been more different.
