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Mominul Haque, the former Bangladesh captain, born on September 29, 1991, is regarded as the Test specialist, who has been at the forefront of the recent growth in the longest format for the national team. After making his debut in Test cricket against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2013, Mominul Haque has played 64 matches for Bangladesh, scoring 4156 runs at a decent average of 37.78 with 12 hundreds, including two in the same match once, along with 19 fifties.
The left-handed batter scored 181 runs against New Zealand at Chattogram in 2013, which is the highest score from a Bangladesh cricketer for a maiden hundred in Test cricket. However, after Mominul Haque’s early success, there was brief lull in his run-scoring prowess as his batting average dropped below 50 in 2017. The turnaround in fortunes for Mominul Haque happened after he was appointed as the new Test captain of Bangladesh in 2019 after the removal of Shakib Al Hasan due to a ban.
Mominul Haque led Bangladesh to their maiden Test win in New Zealand
During his leadership reign, Mominul Haque secured an historic Test win for Bangladesh against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui in 2022 apart from consistent success at home, but around the same time, his average had also come down below 40, which ultimately led to his departure from the captaincy responsibility. It is widely said that Mominul Haque gave a push to developing the fast bowlers in the Bangladesh Test team, which has paid dividends in recent years.
Mominul Haque's white-ball career fizzled out unlike his Test one
Apart from being the 11th Test captain of Bangladesh, Mominul Haque also played a handful of matches in white-ball cricket after debuting in 2012 for the national team before they moved on from him. In his 28 matches in ODIs, the Cox’s Bazar-born cricketer has scored 557 runs at an mediocre average of just over 20 and a strike-rate of around 75 with three fifties, meanwhile in his six T20I appearances, he has scored 60 runs with a strike-rate of 120.
Below are some of the best individual achievements of Mominul Haque’s international career:
Fifties in 11 consecutive Test matches: Mominul Haque has scored fifties in 11 consecutive Test matches from 2013 to 2015, to find himself in joint second place on the illustrious list with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, and Viv Richards.
Hundreds in each innings of a Test match: Mominul Haque got hundreds in each innings of a Test match against Sri Lanka in Chattogram, scoring 176 runs in the first innings before following it up with 105 in the second innings.
7th place in best three-wicket analyses in Test cricket: Mominul Haque picked up figures of 3/4 against New Zealand in a Test match in Sylhet in 2023, which is the 7th best three-wicket analyses in the longest format of the game.
24th Test captain to get a pair: Mominul Haque is the 24th Test captain to get a pair in the longest format of the game during 2019 against India in Kolkata, which was his second match in the leadership tenure.
