Consistent Mominul revels in quiet space

FE Team | Published: June 08, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

If you see the twinkle in his eye you can imagine a youthful Mominul Haque jumping to get on top of the bounce of the taped tennis ball and square-cutting it to a distant spot on the sands of his hometown Cox's Bazar.
The square-cut is Mominul's favorite shot, and since he learned it before joining his alma mater, the sports institute BKSP, you can call it his native shot, reports Cricinfo.
"Well, [my favorite shot] changes from time to time but I think it is the square-cut now," Mominul tells the news agency. "I like playing that shot. I used to play that shot quite well when I used to play with a taped tennis ball in Cox's Bazar. I think that's why I still have that shot." Mominul's life has travelled a long distance from those childhood days as he heads into the one-off Test against India with a world record just a half-century away. Watching a batsman in control of his emotions and in tune with his technique is rare in Bangladesh.
Mominul is a breath of fresh air as a result, and that air is still relatively unsullied, given he has only played 14 Tests.
He has made 50-plus scores in all but one of those Tests, and 11 of them have come in his last 11 Tests. He is level with Viv Richards, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag in achieving this feat and has only AB de Villiers, who made fifties in 12 successive Tests, ahead of him. When Bangladesh take on India in Fatullah, there will be a certain amount of attention on Mominul's attempt to equal de Villiers' record, but beyond that his work hasn't received enough recognition. It could be because of his nature. He is reticent, to put it mildly. He avoids any extra attention to the point that he has stopped talking about the upcoming Test and particularly the successive-fifties record. There is a bit of vulnerability about Mominul off the field too, a rarity among performers in the Bangladesh team.
Often they strut about like Tigers, imbibing their official moniker, after making a name for themselves in a short span of time. This conceit has led to the downfall of many young talents and Mominul isn't just different - he occupies the opposite end of the spectrum.