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There was one silver lining to Green Park’s soggy outfield. It was Mominul Haque’s birthday off. His teammates spoilt him rotten on Sunday at the Bangladesh team hotel.
These days, the last thing that comes on an India tour is respite. in particular for a batter. That was something Mominul could speak to, having started his tour with a first-ball duck and then been thoroughly outclassed by one of the best spin bowlers in history.
His career to date has followed a trend. His average of 48.57 at home is the highest of any batter from Bangladesh in history (minimum five games played). He has an average of 27.39 while he is not at home, with 60% of his innings going under 30 runs. Mominul finds it difficult to be mentioned in the same breath as some of his nation’s greatest athletes for part of this reason. He’s got the game, especially the focus needed to take on good bowlers, but his stats have always come with a warning sign.
Bangladesh is looking at a situation in Kanpur that is beyond comprehension. They had ended three days of a Test match in India with just three wickets lost, thanks in large part to the weather. They lost seven wickets for just 126 runs in the fourth inning. India then amassed 285 in just 34.4 overs, putting a slap in their face. A match that appeared to be heading towards a draw is suddenly teeming with energy.
Mominul is at the core of it all. He had hoped not to, but when the openers could not manage the forty-odd minutes left before stumps, Bangladesh sent out a nightwatch. But R Ashwin took care of Hasan Mahmud and he had to represent, which, if his 107 in the first innings was any indication, he can.
Throughout the entire inning, his back-foot play was both remarkable and vital. The pitch was slow, which provided him an edge that he seized with relish.
Mominul, playing on the back foot, posed a threat as well as a pain to the quicks. He used to be hurried by the short ball and had trouble with it. Recent data suggests he went above and above in addressing an issue that needed improvement. He interfered with Naseem Shah’s attempts to pull him out during the Pakistan tour. Here, he used every opportunity to carve up India’s quicks across point and third man.
Several batsmen from Bangladesh attempted to disrupt the concentration of the Indian bowlers. Before India pushed Litton Das away from the shots that were working for him, he was successful for a spell. In what may have been his final Test match, Shakib Al Hasan rushed at the bowlers to see what would happen. It felt that only Mominul batted without any preconceptions.
It appeared as though he had the dullest intellect of all the Bangladeshi hitters until he played the shot that won him runs. That’s where wise choices originate. On Tuesday, Bangladesh will require much more of that.
“Anything is possible in Test cricket,” Mehidy said. “It’s not like we have lost already. We have won matches like this and lost as well. So it’s an opportunity for us, for those batters remaining. The wicket is good and it will be challenging for us but if we can get a good partnership up top and our batters bat with responsibility for a session it will be a positive sign for us. We still have tomorrow’s day so we are not trying to think about it [losing].”