OTD | Birth of elegant left-handed batter from Bangladesh, Mominul Haque

Former Bangladesh Test Captain and Bangladeshi left-handed batter Mominul Haque has turned 32 today. He is a classical test match batsman known for his ability to spend long hours on the crease and tire out the opposition bowlers with his patience. 

He emerged on the scene in the 2008-09 domestic season when he made his debut for Dhaka division against Chittagong Division. After giving an introduction of his talent he was called up for the U-19 World Cup squad. He had a disappointing World Cup in New Zealand except for an innings of 35 runs against Pakistan. In 2011 he got a call-up from the National Cricket Academy and impressed everyone with his consistent run of form.

Haque got his rewards as he finally made his debut for the national side in the ODI series against West Indies in 2012. His debut in test format, which was going to be his forte, came in 2013 against Sri Lanka at Galle. He did not get much success in the ODI format but his test career progressed as he would have wanted. He made his first century against the Kiwis in 2013 on his home soil at Chittagong. His steady consistency made sure that he remained a regular feature on the test side.

His career-defining moment came when the Bangladesh team was going through a period of turmoil. Captain Shakib Al Hasan was banned from all the formats for a period of two years due to a breach of Apex Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code. Mominul Haque, being a dependable player in the whites for the side, was handed over the charge of captaincy. His first series as captain was against India in November 2019. The second test match of that series was played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which was the first day/night test match for both sides. 

He would not taste victory as test captain until the next year when Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe in a one-off test. A historic test win in New Zealand would be a feather in his cap as his captaincy tenure was short-lived. He resigned from the test captaincy after Shakib Al Hasan was made the captain once again. His poor form exacerbated his departure from the leadership role.

Mominul Haque has been a very elegant batsman throughout his career but his consistency lets him down on some occasions. Going into the last stage of his career he would want to contribute more consistently and leave his mark as one of the most important batsmen in test format for Bangladesh.