The star Test specialist Bangladesh batter, Mominul Haque has turned 32 today; the batter is making an amazing impact on the Bangladesh cricket team since he made his Test debut in March 2013 in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka. Since then, he has played 57 Tests till his most recent appearance three months back in June 2023 in the Mirpur Test against Afghanistan.
In his illustrious Test career of more than 10 years, the veteran Southpaw has played a lot of crucial knocks for Bangladesh on big occasions. It includes 12 centuries and 16 half-centuries from his bat, having 3791 runs in 106 Test innings of 57 matches averaging 38.68.
With that said, here we’ll have a look at the,
Top 3 knocks played by Mominul Haque in the longest format:
1. 181 runs against New Zealand – Chattogram Test, 2013
Bangladesh and New Zealand were taking on each other in the first Test of the two-match series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. New Zealand posted a good total of 469 runs in the first innings while batting first after winning the toss.
Later replying to New Zealand’s first innings, Bangladesh got a shaky start as they lost two wickets at the score of just 8 runs. But it was the time when then-young middle-order batter Mominul Haque took charge. He went on to play an impressive knock of 181 runs, including 27 fours to help Bangladesh take a lead of 32 runs over New Zealand at the end of the first innings. It is still the best and highest knock played by Mominul Haque in his Test career.
2. 176 runs against Sri Lanka – Chattogram Test, 2018
Sri Lanka was on a tour of Bangladesh in January 2018 to play a two-match Test series; the first match was being played in Chattogram. The hosts skipper Mahmudullah won the toss and decided to bat first. The fans witnessed the masterclass from the star middle order batter Mominul Haque in the first innings.
He smashed an outstanding knock of 176 runs, with 16 fours and a six. Later, adding another feather in his cap, Mominul went on to smash the successive century in the second innings of this very Test match. He also won the ‘Player of the Match award for smashing centuries in both the innings of this drawn Test.
3. 161 runs against Zimbabwe – Mirpur Test, 2018
After losing the first Test against Zimbabwe in the two-match home series against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh were taking on Zimbabweans in the second and last Test of the series at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. While batting after winning the toss, the first innings of Bangladesh was blessed with the two brilliant performances from Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim, respectively.
After three early dismissals on the score of 26 runs, the number four batter Mominul took the charge alongside senior wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim. The former also played a very crucial knock of 161 runs, hitting 19 fours with the bat. Furthermore, Bangladesh went on to win this match by a big margin of 218 runs, levelling the series by 1-1.