When Mominul Haque steps out to play his 15th Test against India tomorrow at Khan Saheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah, he will be eyeing a rare feat of fifty plus scores in 12 consecutive matches, achieved only by South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
The 23-year old batsman, at present, sits beside West Indian great, Sir Vivian Richards, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, all having registered scores in excess of fifty in at least one innings in 11 consecutive Test matches.
However, the Bangladeshi batsman doesn’t wish to compare himself with de Villiers. “I’m not even near him. You know of his mastery in all formats. I don’t think I am his competitor,” he said.
He has been on a spree since October 2013, when he scored his maiden century – against New Zealand. The Bangladeshi batsman has played 14 matches so far and has scored 1380 runs at an average of 60, with four centuries and nine half-centuries. The only match in which he missed out on a fifty plus score was his third Test, against Zimbabwe in Harare, in which he scored 23 and 29.
“I am not really thinking about beside whom I’ll sit. I will just try to meet the expectations of the people and my target,” the left-handed batsman said.
Mominul is also aware of the quality of the Indian spin bowling attack, consisting of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. He said, “They are both quality spinners. One has played for a long time, and the other has been doing well, my performance may take a hit if I worry about them. I think I will learn much playing against their (India’s) spinners.”
