Mominul elated to end century draught after two years

Dhaka, 15 June -Bangladesh middle order batter Mominul Haque felt  relieved after scoring a century, which eluded him for the last two years and  made him distraught as his place in the team was questioned repeatedly.

He hit 127 against Sri Lanka in April 2021 at Pallekele, his last ton that  helped Bangladesh draw the Test against the Lankans. Therefore he went  through a prolonged bad patch, which included nine single digit figures in a row, including three ducks. The bad patch haunted him to such extent that he finally quitted captaincy last year to focus on his batting.

But still century eluded him though he made 84 against India last year after that sing-digit streak. Finally it came when he made 121 not out against Afghanistan in one-off Test on day three as Bangladesh set an improbable 662-run target for the visitors to win the game. 

"There was regret that I couldn't play big knock, which was my habit. I missed batting three or four sessions. Yes it is great to back to runs again 
and it was helpful for the side," Mominul said after the day three game here. 

Mominul however is the only player of Bangladesh who was tagged as Test specialist. Since Bangladesh don't play Test cricket more often, his bad patch looked more prominent always. 

But the diminutive batter said he takes it in positive way because he gets enough chance to prepare him during the gap when Bangladesh have no Test cricket.

'I think long gap should be a concern. But you can't judge a player when he plays Test cricket after a long time and fail to score a big knock," he said. 

"On the one hand it's a positive thing for me, I can prepare myself and have a long time to prepare. What you are saying, I am not taking it as negative. 
In fact I have done my mind setup like that. You have seen it once before that I got a chance to play International cricket when there was one year gap in our Test schedule."

Mominul who started his career with a bang, hitting at least a fifty in his first 11 Test, was the first Bangladeshi batter to hit century in both 
innings of a Test. Today he got a companion from his country in Najmul Hasan Shanto who made 124, following his 146 in the first innings. 

"We all wanted him to get second hundred in the match. I think his first innings century was more valuable than second innings because it changes the momentum of the game. Thanks to him for contributing two 100s to the team. It's a big achievement."