Mominul calls for Bangladesh to get out of the ‘momentum’ thought

Traditional wisdom says that cricket is all about momentum. 

However, Bangladesh’s top-order batter, Mominul Haque does not believe in any of that traditional wisdom, throwing it out the window just before the two-match Test series against Pakistan. 

The 32-year-old instead reckoned that the team should consider taking one match at a time, and should be aiming to upgrade instead of staying constant. 

"If you talk about momentum, does it mean that if I start the first match badly, then I will do badly in the next six matches? Or If I start well in the first match, will I do well in all the matches?" Mominul told Cricbuzz. 

"A lot [of them] believe in momentum but I don't believe in that. You may have started badly, but if you can't make a comeback then you will remain the same team, you can't upgrade. So, you have to get out of that.

"If I do well one day, it doesn't matter but if I try to do so every day then I will have the chance to do well. I might fail again but then I will [also] do better again. So momentum is not that important to me but many in Bangladesh believe that. Actually, we need to get out of this or else we can never become a big team. Instead, we will remain the eighth-ranked team,” he added.

Mominul also spoke about the challenges of playing Test cricket, stating that 'new situations' arise from time to time, depending on the conditions. A team could be 150/3 and, within 15 minutes of time or a passage of play, be staring into the barrel. 

"In Test cricket, from time to time, the situation changes. If you can get a hold of that situation then you can come back. If they have the upper hand so you play patiently there and then you can come back. That's the fun and difference of the Test match - a new situation arises from time to time and also the conditions change and you have to adapt to that,” he elucidated.

“Suppose you made 100 or 150 and suddenly three wickets went down for three runs, the situation changes. But then you go on to make 150-200 runs losing only those three wickets, in that case you again get back into the game and so you have to adjust to that and that is how it is played and that's how we need to play."

Mominul hasn’t been in the best of form lately, with scores of 11, 8, 33, and 50 in his last four innings in the red-ball format. He was one of the Bangladesh batters who failed to capitalise on the opportunities in Pakistan on the last tour. The left-hander reckoned that the ‘major challenge’ was not the new ball but the old ball, which reverses a lot during the middle overs, posing a new challenge. 

"When we played there last time, we played really poorly though the wicket was good. The challenge is more with the old ball rather than with the new ball. Because the wicket is flat and, as the heat is high, different challenges arise with the old ball and it can reverse swing. So, the challenge is different there," he said.

"During that time I thought if you want you can stay at the wicket. But the challenge rises with the old ball. Normally it is a batting wicket in Pakistan and that's an advantage. But, if you [go in thinking] you will get a batting wicket then it becomes difficult because then you will fall short [once the ball gets old]. So, you have to be prepared for everything. Then it becomes easy for you."

So, has anything changed since then? Mominul definitely believes that Bangladesh's pace unit has become much stronger than the previous tour. 

"I think the best thing about us is that our bowling department is doing well, especially the pace bowling. The main pillar of a Test team is their bowling and our bowling is really good, by the grace of Allah. If we can bat well then we have a chance. And we have a chance to win a Test match provided we can create that," said the left-hander.

"Before what had happened [was that] we used to bat but the bowling wasn't good. Now, since we have good bowling, if we can do better in the batting then the chance to win a Test will be created."

The two-Test series, which will be played in Rawalpindi, will begin on August 21 (Wednesday).

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