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Mominul Haque has stepped down from captaincy, and he will finally be without the burden that saw his batting form drop drastically. But this has also put him in a precarious position.
Before being appointed captain, Mominul was–without doubt, the finest Test batsman Bangladesh has produced.
His numbers speak for him. In his 67 innings as a regular player in the XI, Mominul scored 2613 runs averaging 41.47, including eight centuries and 13 fifties.
Since being appointed captain, Mominul’s average has taken a massive dip to 31.44. He has only 912 runs in 31 innings and has only three centuries and two fifties. He has six ducks in this period, the same number he accumulated in 67 innings before being captain.
And the most shocking was his recent form. Mominul did not reach double digits in any of his last eight innings, and since being given the armband, Mominul has gotten out for single-digit scores 15 times, almost half of his total innings.
The left-hander has prioritised his batting and kept the armband aside, but that has only brought more doubt about his future in international cricket.
While his recent performances might have seen him dropped if he was a regular player, captaincy made him an automatic choice in the XI.
But in West Indies, Mominul would truly be playing to save his career. And he would be doing that in a place where he does not have the best record.
The former Bangladesh Test skipper has, to date, played four Tests in the Caribbean islands. In those eight innings, Mominul only scored 138 runs at an average of 17.25. He is yet to score a ton there but has two fifties along with two ducks.
The last time, in 2018, Mominul scored only 16 runs in four innings. His highest was 15, and both of his ducks in the West Indies came there.
So, as Bangladesh prepare for a showdown against a familiar foe in troubling conditions, Mominul would have an even harder test coming up for him.
And to prepare for that, he already went back to his basics before leaving the country. He worked with Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, cricket advisor at BKSP and Mominul’s coach during his days at the country’s finest sporting institute.
Fahim said that Mominul had drifted away from his basics, which has been hurting his game.
“It’s difficult to play at this (international) level if you drift away from your basics. This is the main reason. As soon as this passes, he will do well. From what I have seen, it looks like it’s getting better, he is timing the ball well. I think he will do well soon,” Fahim said.
He added, “Mominul is going through a bad patch for quite some time. Sometimes, people try to make it better but make it worse by moving away from their basics. So, we are working on the basics.”
“What I feel is that his basics were really good, but it’s not anymore. We are working on that. It looks better. Maybe it will get even better after working some more.”
While many believe that as the burden of captaincy is gone, Mominul will perform again. But truth be told, he is under a lot more pressure now.
Because then, it was a fight to perform and lead the side from the front. Now, it’s a last-gasp attempt to save his Test career.