Mominul Haque

Mominul Haque is an exciting left-handed batsman and an useful left-arm spinner from Bangladesh, who arrived on the international scene with a bang. He comes from the coastal town of Bangladesh called Cox's Bazaar, which is a popular tourist destination. Mominul joined BKSP, Bangladesh's biggest sports institute, as a cricket student and made his First-Class debut in the 2008-09 season for Dhaka Division against Chittagong Division.

In 2010, he was picked for the Under-19 World Cup squad and later during the year, he was included in the National Cricket Academy. He continued to plunder runs in the middle-order in the domestic circuit and was selected for the Bangladesh 'A' team for the tour of West Indies. In the opening match of the tour he scored 150. He finally earned his call for the national team after he scored back-to-back hundreds in First-Class games. The selectors then picked him as a replacement for the injured Shakib Al Hasan for the first two ODIs against West Indies in November 2012.

He made his Test debut for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka in Galle on March 8, 2013. He scored a half-century in his debut Test and ended up scoring 156 runs in three innings at an impressive average of 52 in his maiden Test series. He made his first century in a Test match against New Zealand in Chittagong off just 100 balls. In the second Test, Mominul, scored another century against the same opponent. He continued his great form against Sri Lanka, scoring a 50 in the first and a ton in the second game. However, he has not been as successful in the shorter formats and is yet to cement a permanent spot in the playing XI.

In November 2014, Mominul became the fastest Bangladeshi batsman to reach 1,000 Test runs, he took 21 innings to achieve that feat. Having made such a sensational start to red-ball cricket, he was expected to shine in the shorter formats as well due to his elegant strokeplay but it hasn't quite happened that way. The 2015 World Cup was an opportunity for him to stake his claim but he ended up featuring in just the first two games and failures in both encounters saw him being dropped and hasn't featured in white-ball cricket thereafter.

Bangladesh seem intent on preserving Mominul for the Test match format due to his penchant to take time for settling in. His domestic records in the shorter formats also suggest that his style of play is best suited for five-day cricket. However, with age on his side, Mominul would be keen on improving his limited-overs game and being a part of the side in all the formats. His form in Test cricket over the last two years has been moderate although that exceptional consistency that he had early on has dimmed a touch.

As batsmen play more, they are likely to be sorted out by bowlers in international cricket. It's how these willow-wielders respond that makes them a quality player. Mominul still continues to score runs in Tests but he will want to be more consistent. As for the white-ball formats, his fortunes will depend on his adaptability. There has never been any doubt on his talent or class, it has been more about whether he can be flexible or not.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan